Secrets
by Red Page
Summary: There isn't a day where Takuya Kanbara doesn't look back fondly at his time in the Digital World; how he dreamed of being reunited with his companions, to become the Warrior of Flame once more. Little did he know that he would soon get his wish… only not in the way he pictured it. (Co written by FernClaw and RedPage. Further details on my account.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there guys, you won't believe how long we've been working on this. This is a combined effort by myself and my girlfriend FernClaw that has been goin' on for a year today. I hope you guys are ready to see a lot from this cuz we got A LOT written. Alrighty then, have fun.**

Chapter One: Awakening

It has been a few months since that fateful day Takuya Kanbara received that compelling message; since he had went on that mysterious train to an even more mysterious world; since he had made five life long friends on his adventures. There isn't a day where he doesn't look back fondly at his time in the Digital World; how he dreamed of being reunited with his companions, to become the Warrior of Flame once more. Little did he know that he would soon get his wish… only not in the way he pictured it.

Takuya sat on his desk by the window, a bored look on his face as the teacher droned on in his speech. The teenager paid no mind to the teacher's ramblings and simply gazed outside the window to the courtyard. He was too busy living in his own fantasy world.

He sighed and gazed at the clock, wishing for the day to be over sooner. To be out and about in the sun and not confined in this room.

"-The principles of the haiku are as scared as the shrines in Kyoto as such..." The teacher's lecture had that effect where if you slipped just a little- you'd be asleep in an instant. Takuya rolled his eyes, checking in on the lesson briefly before returning to his daydreams.

He thought of his closest companions. Kouji and Kouichi were very likely in their last class of the day as well, now attending the same school together to spend more time with one another. Zoe had many new friends in her all girls school now. JP was attending a trade school and he too found a circle of friends. Tommy and Takuya's little brother, Shinya, had grown close as they were both on the same soccer team. Takuya was happy for them, but somehow, felt oddly alone without them.

He sighed again. The summer had lulled them into a false sense of unity- where in reality, they all lived very far apart; and with the different schools, social activities, and family to contend with, he barely got to see them.

Friends forever. That's what they promised to each other back then. He had always thought that their promise would stand strong, solid like stone. He had not imagined that time would erode their promise the way it did.

The teenager glanced over to the goggles that lie idle at the corner of his desk. They had become something of sentimental value to him; a reminder of the good times he had with all of them. He toyed with them for a moment, still lost in his thoughts. How he wished things could go back to the way they were.

Takuya was quickly dragged out of his musing when the school bell finally rung. He exhaled deeply in relief and gathered his belongings, slipping his goggles back on and making his way outside as the teacher dismissed the class.

He made a beeline for his locker, opening it quickly to dump the unnecessary books he had to drag around all day. He wouldn't need them over the weekend, or for the next couple days after- It was a term break after all. He smiled to himself, knowing this would be the best time to see his friends- provided they too had time off.

Takuya shouldered his bag and made his way to the gym locker room to get his gym uniform and bring it home for a well needed wash. His mother would probably kill him for it, but it was hard to bring the clothes home often enough to wash them when you had gym class every other day. He waved to a few classmates in passing as they headed outside into the nice day.

He had figured out his plans for the day in advance. Drop everything he doesn't need off back home, call the guys, and annoy the hell out of them to plan something for the weekend (and if he's lucky, something to do later that evening).

The teen grinned to himself. Admittedly, he was starting to get on everyone's nerves, having called each of them countless times to make plans to get together but it was worth a few scathing glares, a probable smack to the back of the head from Kouji for good measure, if it meant that they could spend time together again.

Takuya grinned to himself as made his way home. He had picked up his pace with eagerness to get the break started off on good terms. He pushed the door to the boy's locker rooms open.

"Where do you think you're going punk!" A harsh voice echoed in the boy's locker room. Takuya froze, the door still wide open. He swallowed slowly, scanning the room. The was a crash followed by a yelp from a younger student.

"I said get back here!" the voice said again. Takuya quickly closed the door, so it wouldn't make a noise and cautiously proceeded into the room. An upper classman had another, younger student cornered in the back by the showers. He recognized the victim as one of his classmate's younger sibling.

The elder, whom Takuya did not recognize, advanced, grabbing the younger boy by his shirt.

"P-please… I-I didn't do anything…" the younger boy pleaded and curled up in a protective ball. The boy was quivering under the upper classman's glare.

Takuya glared at the older boy and charged in without any hesitation, his hero complex kicking in immediately upon seeing and hearing the terror from the younger boy. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

The upper classman stopped terrorizing the younger student. He turned to face the goggle head, sizing him up quickly. He snorted, unimpressed with Takuya's stature. "Who the heck are you?"

"Leave him alone!" Takuya replied evenly, glaring at the older boy. He tossed the younger boy aside, allowing him to escape and hopefully go for help. Takuya braced himself for a fight, which the upper classman seemed to be looking for.

"Oh, Tough guy I see," the boy sneered, towering over the brunette. "Let's see how tough you really are!"

In an instant fists went flying. The older boy had a knack in fighting Takuya realized after barely dodging a punch aimed for his face. Lucky for Takuya he had been used to fighting after dealing with corrupt Digimon who were built to fight.

The older boy had not expected Takuya to put up much resistance but that did not deter him from continuing the assault.

The upper classman managed to grab Takuya by the collar of his shirt to keep him from jumping around and took the chance to strike the goggle head hard, punching him in the face.

Takuya cried out, clawing at the older boy's hand. "Let me go!"

The elder laughed, grinning in a twisted way. "What was that runt? All I heard was a squeak!"

The brunette glared, anger welling inside of him. He gripped his captor's arm tightly, "I said, Let. Me. GO!" the was a flash and a yelp of surprise. The older boy released Takuya and both tumbled to the floor.

"What the hell?!" the upper classman screeched, eyes wide with shock.

Takuya blinked in confusion, before realizing his hand was on fire. Literally on fire. He immediately shook it, making the flames dissipate. "Shinoba! What the HELL are you doing?"

Both boys looked to see one of the coaches standing in the doorway looking beyond pissed. "Fighting? AGAIN!? You are in a world of trouble!" the coach roared, bearing down the the elder student like hellfire. He looked at Takuya briefly, "Get yourself to the nurse." He instructed curtly before hauling the older boy into his office.

It took several moments for Takuya to realize a few things. One, he was just punched in the face and likely had a black eye forming, and two, his hand was spontaneously on fire- but it didn't hurt. He stumbled to his feet, gathering his things quickly before bolting from the school, forgetting the coach's instructions to go see the nurse.

Takuya ran like a madman back home. He was a blur as he made it to the front door. He quickly made his way inside, slamming the door behind him and startling his mother.

"Takuya? What're you…" she started but stopped when he rushed his way up to his room. He didn't even let her finish. "What on earth is going on with that boy?"

The boy quickly locked the door behind him and turned his computer on. "Come on, come on, come on…" he muttered impatiently as the computer slowly started up.

A knocking was heard at his door, his mother no doubt. "Takuya? What's going on? Why's the door locked?"

He flinched, having forgotten his mother would be home early today. "Uh- it's um, nothing mom! I'm fine!" He lied as best as he could. He opened up an internet browser and began to look for a way to hide the black eye from his mother.

"Takuya Kanbara you open this door this instant!" She demanded from the other side of the bedroom door.

"J-just a second!" Takuya answered shuddering from the dangerous tone in her voice. He searched desperately for what could help him as his mother banged on his door. He muttered a curse under his breath, failing to find anything that could give him an immediate solution.

As a last minute ditched effort, Takuya turned his cap forward in an attempt to have it shadow over the dark coloring around his eye. He scrambled to the door and unlocked it, facing his enraged mother. "Uh… hi Mom…" he gulped and laughed nervously. "…is something wrong?"

She stood there arms crossed, looking annoyed as anything with her eldest son. "What on earth was all that about? You're lucky your father isn't home because- Takuya..." She lost her train of thought spying the boy's swelling eye. She brought a hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp. "What happened to your eye? Were you fighting!?"

She reached out and removed his hat to get a better look at the swollen eye. "You march yourself downstairs this instant so I can treat that. You better have a good explanation." She added the last bit after a short pause.

Takuya sighed and nodded, making his way downstairs. "Should have known that wouldn't have worked." He muttered, sitting down at the table as his mother went to get ice for Takuya's eye.

He winced upon feeling the bag of ice come in contact with the bruise but stopped fidgeting when he saw the stern look on his mother's face. "So… I guess you wanna know what happened."

"That's right young man. I want to know every detail." She answered, looking down at him with her arms folded. She was in no mood for any funny business. "So start talking."

He inhaled sharply, "There was this guy- I guess he was an upper classman, but he had a younger student cornered in the locker room. I... I ...he was hurting him... And I got involved... But I didn't fight back! I swear- He hit me!"

It was his mother's turn to sigh, "Oh Takuya... I don't understand how or why you get into all this trouble. It's like something compels you to get into the middle of a situation- You should have gone for help- not get involved!"

"But by then the kid could have really gotten hurt!" Takuya spoke up but looked back down at his hands that were clenched on his lap. "I had to help him."

"Takuya… do you realize how much trouble you could have gotten yourself into? You need to think these things through!" she groaned and rubbed her temples to help her calm down. "You're starting high school next year. You need to curb this impulse of yours before things get any more out of hand."

Takuya opened his mouth to reply, but bit it back, knowing she was right. He was too, to an extent but this wasn't the Digital World- he couldn't protect everyone. "I... I'm going to go lie down for a bit." He retreated from the kitchen back to his room before his mother could start on him again.

The teenager groaned and collapsed on his bed and moaned into the sheets. He wanted so badly for everything to be okay for him. He had helped the kid but in doing so got himself into a heap of trouble.

He looked to his hand and remembered how his hand had suddenly combusted. Takuya sat up in his bed and examined his hand closely. He wasn't burned but the hairs at the back of his hand were singed a little. This was definitely not a fluke. His hand really was on fire.

The computer chirped from across the room. Someone messaged him while he was being lectured by his mother. Takuya stood and crossed the room, sitting before the computer to read the message.

'Do you still want to meet up tomorrow?' - Kouji

Takuya began to write a response but as he was writing he realized that with everything that happened within the last hour he needed someone to talk to. Someone who could understand what was going on with him. Kouji knew him well enough; maybe he could figure this out.

'You free to talk? Something really weird happened to me today.' - Takuya

There was no written reply rather a window came up with the video chat request. Takuya accepted, the webcam started up and Kouji appeared. "You? Weird? Never. What's on your mind?" He said with lighthearted sarcasm. He paused, seeing the other boy's bruised eye. "Dude- What happened?"

Takuya ghosted a hand over his eye and groaned. "I got into a fight with some jerk at school. The guy was picking on some younger kid and I couldn't just stand there and let it happen. But that's not the problem."

Kouji interrupted, "Takuya- that hero complex of yours is going to get you into trouble."

"Dude, I heard enough from my mom I don't need to hear it from you." Takuya barked, still feeling on edge from the lecture his mother gave him.

"Alright, no need to take my head off," Kouji replied, taken a back by Takuya's sudden outburst. He studied the boy for a moment."Are you okay?"

Takuya nervously ran his hand through his hair. "Look… something really freaky happened to me when I got in that fight with that jerk. I know it sounds crazy but one moment the guy's holding me by the collar the next my hand's suddenly on fire!"

Kouji stared at him blankly, not sure how to respond. "Okay... and...?"

Takuya gave Kouji an incredulous look, having expected a better response than that. "My. Hand. Was. On. FIRE. Like… pshhhhh!" he waved his hands to try and simulate fire to further sink the message in.

"You should be in theater Takuya. You're way too dramatic." Kouji replied cooly, before becoming serious, "So what do you think happened with the fire?"

"I don't know. It happened so fast. It disappeared almost instantly." Takuya answered and looked back at his hand. "It didn't hurt… and I know I'm not crazy. The hairs on the back of my hand are completely singed."

Kouji sat back in his chair, thinking about the situation. "This really has you worked up..." he whispered before speaking to Takuya directly "Are you sure it wasn't your imagination? Absolutely positive?"

"Of course I'm sure." Takuya answered. "Freaked the other guy pretty bad too. Unless we were both imagining it I think this is the real deal here." He finished and rested his chin on the desktop. "I have no idea what the hell is happening to me."

"Nor do I- do you think we should get in touch with the others?" Kouji asked, his tone became hushed. "This could be something Digital... Something bad."

"Digital?" Takuya repeated, letting the thought linger in his mind. He hadn't thought about that possibility. It made sense but left so many questions unanswered. He turned his attention back to his friend and recalled the questions he asked. "Uh… yeah. I think so. You said this might be Digital… it could be happening to all of us."

Kouji took Takuya's words to heart, "We should call the others to see if they have. I personally haven't had anything happen to me, But I'll let you know if I glow in the dark tonight."

That got Takuya to laugh a little and ease up a little. "Thanks man. I really owe you one. This is really freaking me out."

"I can tell," Kouji replied, smiling a bit. "You need to relax and rest- and give that shiner of yours a chance to heal."

"Yeah. I hear you." Takuya nodded and sat up straight. "You think maybe we can talk about this when we meet up tomorrow? It'd be easier than calling everyone one at a time to tell them."

Kouji just rolled his eyes, "You truly are a genius, you know that? See you tomorrow." With that, Kouji ended the call before Takuya could figure out his insult.

Takuya blinked, registering what his friend told him. Finally it dawned on him. "Hey!" he growled and tried to respond. "You…" he tried calling a few times but got no response. "Damn coward… I am SO getting back at him for that."

"Takuya! Dinner!" The brunette blinked, when did it get so late?

"Um, I'm not hungry mom!" In truth, he wasn't in the slightest. His nerves made him feel sick to his stomach. He glanced at his bed. "I should try to rest..." he reasoned, going with Kouji's advice. He got up after shutting the computer down and crawled into bed, curling up beneath the covers. He yawned, suddenly tired from the day's events and drama. He closed his eyes thinking to himself 'sleep should do me some good...' and was sound asleep before he knew it.

'Where...' He was hanging midair in a dark void. It was cold and he was all alone. A burst of light and sound exploded before him. Two figures locked in battle fought beneath him. One he recognized all too quickly- ShadowSeraphimon. Recalling the dark angel filled him with dread. The other was one of a far more comforting feeling- Agunimon.

The two clashed again and again, neither backing down in the slightest. Takuya could only watch as the human Spirit of Flame engaged the sinister angel of Metal. Another flash- Agunimon was down. ShadowSeraphimon stood over him, aiming to kill-

Takuya sat upright, panting. 'Just a dream...' he tried to calm himself, glancing at the clock on the bedside table. The numbers read 6:23 am. So early for a Saturday, but Takuya was wide awake now.

Takuya yawned and stretched before getting out of bed. He quietly peaked out of his room and listened to hear if anyone else was awake. He was relieved to hear the faint sounds of his family's snoring.

The opportunity to get ready to head out before his father could wake up and question him became present and so Takuya jumped in the shower.

He allowed himself the leisure to think while showering. His thoughts lingered on his dream. It was so surreal and there was something unsettling about it. Takuya remembered his battle with ShadowSeraphimon. He shuddered at the thought of how badly the battle turned out for him.

Whatever it was, it was similar but it wasn't the same. It wasn't like how it was before. There was something different. He couldn't put his finger on it but it was something that scared him. What scared him even more was the thought that it had some kind of connection with the incident yesterday.

He stood before the fogged up mirror so long the steam began to fade away. Takuya looked up, expecting to see his right eye swollen and blackish-purple from yesterday. He gasped- it was... healed? He touched the skin around his eye carefully. It was as though it had never happened.

Takuya's breathes began short and unfocused- 'impossible. Impossible!' And yet- his eye was completely fine. "Did I... dream all of that?" he wondered out loud, heart racing.

The brunette quickly made his way back to his room and pulled out his cell phone from his pants pocket before dialing Kouji's number. Sure the teen would probably chew him out for waking him up so early but it was important.

He waited patiently for Kouji to pick up before he heard the phone pick up. "Kouji…"

The ringing stopped and the brunette could hear someone fumbling with the phone on the other end. "Damn it Takuya, What now?"

"Dude. Look, I just woke up with a really freaky nightmare and when I checked the mirror. My eye's completely healed." Takuya answered quickly, pressing his fingers around his eye to make sure. "It's like I didn't get punched in the face at all and… you remember the black eye right? I'm not crazy or imagining things?"

Kouji growled softly, "If you a pulling my leg, I'm going to kill you and eliminate any witnesses." The younger twin sighed softly, "What do you want me to say Takuya? I can't see you."

"Can we meet at the usual place so we can talk about this?" Takuya asked with a whine. "I am on the verge of a breakdown and I need someone to tell me I'm not crazy."

The boy sighed, caving. "Alright alright... You already woke me up. I'm assuming now?"

"If you wouldn't mind." Takuya answered sheepishly. "Just come when you're able. I'll probably be there a little early but I guess I need the time to think this stuff over."

"If you're not in that park, at that tree when I get there, I'm leaving." Kouji said flatly, "Let me get dressed and I'll be there soon."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Takuya sighed in relief. "I'll be there as fast as I can." He hung up, deciding that he needed to out the door fast if he's going to prove he was serious about everything.

The gogglehead quickly got dressed in his usual attire and came rushing downstairs to leave a note before heading out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here you go guys chapter 2. Hope you guys enjoy it. We'll be updating every Wednesday so I hope you guys tag along for the ride. Later guys.**

****Chapter 2: Trouble

Adrenaline pumped through his system as he sprinted down the near deserted suburban streets. As he neared the downtown area and the park, more of the city began to emerge and liven up, slowing Takuya down to wait for traffic. He growled to himself, just wanting to be there already.

Kouji could help him. Kouji was his best friend after all; he would know what to do. Takuya used these thoughts to calm and collect himself as he made his way to the park- hopefully still deserted due to the morning hour.

He was just across the street now. Without a second thought, he dashed into the street- right in front of an oncoming SUV. Takuya's eyes darted towards the approaching vehicle. It was going too fast and if he didn't react fast he would be run over.

The driver of the SUV tried hitting the breaks, only seeing the teenager at the last second. There was not enough time so the driver prepared for the inevitable collision. The tires screeched and the car came to an abrupt halt. There was no sudden force of impact, no sounds of glass crackling or metal denting, there wasn't even a thud. The driver exited the SUV and looked around for any trace of the boy.

Takuya darted into the safety of the park- praying the man hadn't seen him jump nearly ten feet straight up into the air to avoid being hit. He wouldn't have believed it himself if he hadn't been the one to do it. His breathing was uneven and shaky. He felt sick as he fell to his knees beside the designated tree.

"Takuya!"

He looked up, Kouji's eyes were wide as he raced to Takuya's side. Judging by his expression, he'd seen the near accident with the SUV.

"Start... Talking..." Kouji instructed as he tried to catch his breath.

"I… I don't know... where to start." Takuya admitted after finally regaining his breath. "I… I didn't even know I could do that. Man… what the hell is wrong with me? This is just… I don't even know anymore…"

Kouji sighed softly, letting a silence linger between them as they both took a moment to calm down. He spoke softly, "...Is there a beginning to this?"

"I um... I guess so..." Takuya stumbled, still rattled by the jump. "Well yesterday- yesterday I was leaving school and I went to the locker room to get my gym uniform. I saw another student about to beat up a classmate of mine's little brother. I got between them and he went after me instead. He grabbed my by the shirt and the next thing I know, we're both on the ground and my hand was engulfed in flames."

"Your hand just burst into flames?" Kouji folded his arms and looked to his friend. "I'd ask if you were really sure you weren't imagining things but with that jump just there, I don't think you are."

"So you believe me?" Takuya asked hopefully. "You don't think I'm crazy?"

Kouji sighed. "Not unless we're both crazy."

"That's not very comforting Kou."

"What have I told you about calling me that?!" Kouji snapped, "But in all seriousness, we both became a wide variety of Digimon- Hell we were one together. Anything is possible."

"Uh… yeah but, that was the Digital World." Takuya suggested and tried wrapping his mind around the situation. "How's this stuff happening to me here?"

Kouji rolled his eyes, "I'm not a psychic Takuya. Clearly there is an explanation- just not one that we know of yet. So until then- I suggest TRYING to keep this to yourself. Other people might freak out. I think the driver of the SUV nearly had a heart attack trying to figure out where you disappeared to."

"I guess." Takuya groaned and slouched in his spot. "Easier said than done though. I have no control over any of this stuff. What if something happens and I end up burning something down? I almost barbequed that jerk from yesterday."

"You make a good point..." Kouji thought about the boy's options, "well for one, do not get into a situation like that until we can figure this out. We will figure this out- somehow."

"Maybe the others can help us figure out what the heck is going on." Takuya stated, dropping himself on the grass. "This is just too freaky to deal with on our own. And last night's dream is so not helping in the slightest bit."

"Dream? You didn't say anything about a dream Takuya." Kouji interjected, slightly annoyed the brunette failed to mention this. "Spill. Now."

"Oh… uh… right." Takuya took a breath, preparing himself to recall the dream. "In my dream I saw Agunimon and ShadowSeraphimon fighting each other." He shuddered at the memory and continued. "It wasn't like before when I fought him… They were evenly matched and… there was just something really off about it."

"ShadowSeraphimon? Who the heck is that?"

Takuya looked at his friend for a moment before realizing that he wasn't there during the battle. "Oh right! You weren't there! Well, uh... it was during that whole Sakkakumon thing. I ended up being the last one out and had to fight Mercurymon in those last two uh… zone things."

"When I was fighting Mercurymon he used Seraphimon's data to turn into this nasty version of him, ShadowSeraphimon. He…" Takuya shuddered again. "He almost killed me… if it weren't for the power the Digi-egg gave to turn into Aldamon… I wouldn't be here…"

"How come you're just now telling me this?" Kouji teased, "That's incredible! Well not the whole almost dying thing... Anyhow- back to your dream. In it, the fight was different from when you faced ShadowSeraphimon because he and Agunimon were evenly matched this time."

"Yeah. Before, not even BurningGreymon could hurt him." Takuya replied. "He packed a really powerful punch. But in the dream, they were almost evenly matched but… in the end… Agunimon lost. I woke up before ShadowSeraphimon could deliver the finishing blow…"

"So how are you sure he lost? You never gave up even when the opponent knocked you down- What makes you think Agunimon wouldn't try to fight back?" Kouji countered.

Takuya sighed, admitting that he may have misinterpreted the dream. "I guess… it was just the sense of dread I got from it… I woke up too early to know how it ended."

"You jump to conclusions. Maybe Agunimon won- even so, I wonder what it means..." the younger twin mused. He removed his bandana and toyed with it in his hands while they sat beneath the tree, lost in thought.

Takuya sighed and leaned back, lying down on the grass, looking up at the sky. "Beats me. I have no idea what the heck this means. I'm not one of those dream interpreters guys or whatever they're called."

Kouji snorted in amusement. "Guess we just have to wait and see right?"

"I guess so." Takuya answered. "So, you know when the guys are supposed to show up? I seriously have no track of time."

"You have no track of anything Takuya. Honestly." Kouji stopped playing with his bandana and pull out his phone, "It's nearly 10, they should be here soon." He put the cell phone away, fixed his ponytail and tied the bandana on his head again.

"Hey guys!" a high pitched voice echoed across the park.

Kouji winced, "Speak of the devil."

"Finally, someone who isn't a sourpuss most of the time." Takuya grinned and got to his feet to greet his friends. He ran over to his friends before Kouji could respond, payback for what happened yesterday. "Hey guys. Glad you can make it."

"Whoa, look at that." JP grinned widely. "Takuya's actually early for a change. It's good to see you Takky."

"Good to see you too big buddy. And hey, I can be early when I want to." Takuya remarked, unable to hide the grin on his face.

Zoe stood beside JP, "How've you guys been- it's been far too long!" She glanced around, "Are Tommy and Kouichi here yet?"

"Boo."

Zoe yelped, jumping away with fright. Kouichi snuck up behind her, spooking the poor girl. "KOUICHI!"

The elder twin laughed, "Couldn't resist!" Zoe huffed and gave chase, intent on smacking him upside the head.

"Kouichi, what did mom say about scaring people?" Kouji teased, having gotten up to greet the others.

"That it's fun." Kouichi quipped back, grinning widely as he evaded Zoe's wraith.

Takuya did his best to keep down his laughter. "Always knew he was the fun one."

"Not that hard to be." JP commented silently to Takuya, glancing at Kouji for an instant as if it were all the proof he needed. "Now we just have to wait for Tommy."

"His parents still giving him grief about hanging out with us?" Takuya asked while looking around for the youngest member of the team.

JP shrugged. "Yeah but I'm sure they'll get over it eventually."

"Hey guys!" On cue, the young boy jogged towards the group. "Sorry I took so long!"

They greeted their youngest friend. "The gang's all here now!" Kouichi said lightly, still trying to avoid Zoe's murderous hands.

"Get back here!" She called after him, tiring. "How do you have so much energy?"

Kouji snagged his brother by his shirt, "Knock it off will ya? You're making a scene."

"Alright, I'll stop." Kouji let his twin go, "Tomorrow!" Kouichi added with a gleeful grin.

"Why was I cursed with two giddy idiots?" Kouji muttered to himself.

Zoe laughed, "Just lucky."

"You really need to lighten up buddy boy." JP patted the younger twin on the back. "You're way too stressed out." Kouji just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah! We're supposed to have fun!" Tommy added with a smile. "We got a break to enjoy. Right Takuya?"

Takuya blinked and nodded. "Right… uh, yeah. Of course."

Just as Takuya was about to address the strange events that had occurred he was interrupted by the eldest. "Well of course. You've only been calling each of us a hundred times each to plan something."

The gogglehead laughed nervously, recalling a lot of the annoyed ranting he received from his friends.

"Honestly Takuya- You were starting to sound a bit desperate." Zoe admitted. "You know we'd never bail on you."

"So what's on today's agenda?" Kouichi asked still grinning, "I have energy to burn!"

"So we noticed," Kouji remarked. Kouichi stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Boys please." Zoe got between them, smacking Kouichi upside the head for earlier, "TRY to behave?"

"Uh… actually." Takuya spoke up to get their attention. "There's something I need to tell you guys."

Tommy looked to Takuya curiously. "What do you mean? What do you want to talk about?"

Takuya sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Look, something really freaky has been going on. Like, really really freaky."

JP raised an eyebrow at him. "Like?"

"Well, yesterday after school I got into a fight with some jerk at school and…" Takuya started.

"Takuya! You got into a fight at school!?" Zoe began but Takuya cut her off.

"I was trying to help this other kid- Look, during the fight two things happened, I got punched in the face and my hand spontaneously combusted with flames."

They gaped at him, surprised from the news, "But if you were punched then why isn't your face..?" JP began, trying to put things delicately so Zoe wouldn't get on his case. They all seemed to have ignore the fire part or were too confused to comment on it.

"I had a black eye yesterday, but it's completely healed itself today- and all I did was put ice on it!"

Kouichi looked perplexed, "But... that's impossible!"

"I know!" Takuya snapped, getting tense. He took a breath to calm himself down. "Look, I just... I don't know what's happening- My eye, the fire, avoiding that truck..."

"What truck?" Tommy inquired. Takuya blinked, trying to think how to explain that one.

"Takuya jumped about 10 feet straight up, over an SUV that he ran out in front of." Kouji replied calmly.

"He what?! Seriously? B-but how?" JP glanced at Takuya, completely shocked by what he had heard.

"I don't know! I mean… one moment I'm crossing the street, the next I'm ten feet in the air." Takuya answered, not really able to answer as calmly as Kouji. "And don't even get me started on the dream."

"You had a dream too?" Tommy asked.

The gogglehead sighed and nodded. "Last night… when I was asleep, I found myself in this dark void. Underneath me I saw Agunimon. And I saw ShadowSeraphimon..."

JP, Zoe, and Tommy collectively gasped, having been present for the fight. "My gods... Takuya..." Zoe placed a hand on his shoulder, "This is bad, isn't it?"

Takuya looked to her and nodded, trying to take comfort by her gesture. "We don't know… in my dream, they were fighting and by the time I woke up, Agunimon was on the floor and it looked like ShadowSeraphimon was going to… well, we're not sure what happened at the end."

"Damn…" JP muttered to himself.

"Are you okay Takuya?" Tommy asked.

The gogglehead shook his head. "I don't know. All of this stuff… its way too much for one day."

"What do you guys think?" Kouji asked, "There must be some reason this is happening to Takuya. The rest of us are unaffected..."

They all looked down, trying to come up with a logical solution, not finding one easily. "Perhaps... the Digital World is in trouble again." Kouichi suggested softly, his previously playful demeanor now very serious.

"But… why only me?" Takuya asked. "I mean, if it were the Digital World then why isn't everyone else affected by this? What makes me so special?"

"You were able to Fusion and Unity evolve." Tommy suggested. "Maybe that's it?"

Takuya shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, if that's it, Kouji should be glowing in the dark by now."

"Not funny." Kouji shot back, glowering at the brunette.

"You said it yourself." Takuya crossed his arms, getting annoyed at Kouji.

"Boys!" Zoe's warning tone snapped them both out of their little glare off. "You two argue like an old married couple!"

"We do not!" the shouted at the same time, earning a round of laughter from their friends.

Zoe shook her head, "Boys. Well, from the sound of it, this does have something to do with the Digital World- but just you Takuya."

"Wait a minute- Didn't you mention becoming another Digimon- just the one time?" Kouji asked.

"Uh…" Takuya took a moment to think it over before it finally hit him. He grimaced at the thought. "I remember that… ugh…"

"You mean that thing you tried to explain about what happened when you disappeared?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah." Takuya nodded. "DarkTrailmon took me back to Earth and… I turned into this… weird Digimon. It looked like it was Agunimon's rookie form or something… I didn't get a good look at it. I was too busy freaking out from everything happening… everything changed back to normal when I came back though."

"Well, that does make you special Takuya; that never happened to any of us." Kouichi said, remembering how Takuya had known him because of that incident following Kouji purifying his spirits of evil.

Kouji crossed his arms again, "Well, that still doesn't explain what the heck is going on."

"Maybe it's nothing to worry about." JP suggested, trying to lighten the mood, "I mean, we know that the spirits are still in the Digital World- so it's not them. Not to mention why they would want to do anything to Takky."

"You got a good point there." Takuya sighed and stretched. "Maybe it's just some freaky side effect from that whole ordeal. Maybe it'll go away soon."

"That's the spirit Takky!" JP grinned and wrapped an arm around Takuya's neck. "Come on, we got the whole day to do something. The world is our oyster!"

Takuya chuckled and grinned, feeling the mood lighten from JP's silliness. "Yeah, you're right buddy! This is the first break since school started and I sure as hell ain't gonna waste it!"

"Uh Takuya... your teeth..." Kouichi said calmly. Zoe saw whatever Kouichi saw too, digging around in her purse and producing a small compact mirror. She passed it to him as JP let go of the boy. Takuya opened up the small mirror and brought it up to his face so he could examine his teeth.

His upper canines had lengthened to resemble fangs. The rest of his teeth looked to have gotten pointed and sharp as well.

Takuya yelped, nearly dropping the mirror at the sight of his fangs. "What the hell?! What happened to my teeth?!"

He poked at his teeth to make sure they were real and recoiled from the sharpness of the points of his canines. "Ow! Oh man… what's happening to me? I look like a freaking vampire!"

"You think maybe it's got something to do with everything else?" Tommy asked, not sure on how to comfort his friend.

"I don't know… maybe." Takuya groaned. "But why? What's the point of giving me fangs?"

"Calm down Takuya- Just... We'll figure this out. We're not going to leave you alone through this- whatever 'this' is." Zoe said, tried to reassure the boy. She took the mirror and took his hands in hers. "We're going to help you."

The others nodded. "We just need to relax and try to find the cause." Kouichi stated matter-of-factly.

"Let's get out of the public eye first; Last thing we need is for Takuya to spontaneously combust in the middle of the park." Kouji said, taking charge. "We can go to my place- My dad's away on business and Mom's likely out shopping by now."

With that the group set off, hoping to find the cause for what in the world could be happening to their panicked friend.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay guys, here we go. Chapter 3 is up. Gonna have a little more fun messin' with Takuya as well as a few other things. Also, I know there has been a few concerns following Kouichi's character. My co-writer, FernClaw, has written a response to these concerns.**

**To those of our readers CONCERNED with Kouichi's Character,**

**While Kouichi is passive and quiet within the realms of the Frontier story, we opted to branch out and let him develop more. By our guess, Frontier likely took place in the spring, given choice dialogue cues and the human world appearance. From this fast forward a few months into early fall and the start of Secrets. Kouichi has had ample time to grow and become more outgoing with his friends. I chose his personality to mirror Kouji's and keep the Yin-Yang thing they have going for them. Also it drives Kouji bananas, so an added bonus there.**  
**In addition, Kouichi's character was very flimsy during Frontier, mostly because he was worrying the entire time about something (IE Cherubimon, Duskmon, not having a body, etc.), not being overly important (Takuya and Kouji kinda take the spotlight and run with it by the time he joins the team, leaving the others in the dust), and we don't get to see much about his life besides his mother and grandmother- all terribly sad. You don't get to see what makes him happy/insecure/annoyed/whatever simply because they didn't show it to us.**  
**I sincerely hope you guys can understand our reasoning for what we did mostly because we didn't explicitly given exact timing on the event of our story compared to Frontier's. Give it a chance, mostly because we have a good deal of this written and have no plans to change it, and the fact his character is really fun to interpret. **  
**With that said, please try to embrace/ignore our version of Kouichi. He's very lovable and mischievous. Like a kitten! Who doesn't like kittens?**

**-Fernclaw, the OTHER author.**

**And with that said and done, let's get on with the show shall we?**

Chapter 3: Call it What You Want

The group made their way to Kouji's house and true to his word the house was empty, save for the hyperactive dog that lazed about waiting for someone to come home.

Kouji's dog immediately perked up after hearing them arrive at the door way and started to bark excitedly. The dog circled around the group, jumping up around them.

"Wow Kouji, you got one really peppy dog." Tommy stated, trying to keep the dog from knocking him over in his hyperactive state.

"Wolf! Sit! Stay! Stop it!" Kouji tried futility to calm the over excited canine who bounded from person to person, wanting to lick their faces off. Wolf jumped up on Takuya with the same happy attitude, but suddenly backed off, growling at the brunette.

Takuya felt threatened by the dog's sudden hostile behavior, backing up against a wall. Kouichi and Kouji managed to drag Wolf by the collar out into the back yard where he couldn't love everyone to death. Or maul in Takuya's case.

"I have never seen that dog growl at anyone like that before..." Kouji said softly, "And he knows you Takuya."

"I didn't do anything either…" Takuya answered, feeling shocked by the dog's sudden change in attitude in his presence.

Wolf had always been a hyperactive nut and not once had he done that whenever the gogglehead came over before. "Takuya? Are you going to be okay?" Tommy asked seeing the look on Takuya's face.

Takuya remained speechless and stepped away from the wall, feeling a little more at ease not having Wolf growling at him.

"Y-yeah.. I'm okay. Just... that was different." Takuya said softly as Kouji lead the group into his bedroom, just on the off chance that his stepmother came home while they were talking or if something else happened.

Kouji sat at his desk, turning the chair around as the rest of the group found places on his bed or on the floor. "So.. What to do with Takuya... Your mother is going to freak out over that eye."

"Crap… I didn't even think of that." Takuya muttered, smacking his forehead. He had completely forgotten that his mom saw the black eye. "How in the world am I going to explain that to her… and Dad. Oh man, this is so not good."

"Easy there buddy. Just put cover up or something to make it look like it's still there." JP suggested. "So don't worry about the black eye thing."

Takuya gave JP a look to show that he wasn't completely satisfied with that answer. "And where am I supposed to get this stuff? And furthermore I do not use make up."

"Aww Come on Takuya- a lot of people do that to hide a black eye." Zoe said while she rummaged through her purse again, "Here we are!" She pulled out dark purple eyeliner and cover up.

Takuya immediately tried to escape before she applied that to his face, but she was too quick. She smeared some of the dark purple around his eye to make it still look bruised before applying a heavy coat of the liquid foundation to make it look a normal.

"Perfetto!" She exclaimed in Italian, "How does he look guys?" Zoe backed away so the others could see.

"Wow… that's really good. It looks so real." Tommy answered in awe.

JP grinned at Zoe's handy work. "It looks fantastic Z. Takky's mom's definitely going to buy that. How's it feel Takuya?"

"I feel silly." Takuya grumbled and resisted the urge to rub his eye. "Did you really have to be so rough with that?" he asked, looking annoyed up at the blond.

She gave him a serious look, her tone was flat. "We all know you would have jumped out of that window regardless of if I asked nicely."

Kouji and Kouichi snickered lightly. "It does look good Takuya. Your mom should buy it so long as you don't rub it." Kouichi said, trying to help convince the brunette this was a good idea.

"Or get it wet. It'll run" Zoe added.

"When did you learn to do that?" Kouji asked the blonde.

"A girl has her ways."

"How do we explain the teeth though?" Tommy asked.

"Preparations for Halloween?" JP suggested, not really able to think of a way to hide the sharp teeth.

"Unless you can find a way to keep from grinning… which I highly doubt."

Takuya sighed and looked to Zoe. "I don't suppose you have some sort of miracle item in that purse of yours do you? Seems like you got everything in there."

"Sorry- I may be prepared, but nothing short of filing them- which will hurt." Zoe replied sadly, pulling him into a hug.

"Still leaves us with a problem," Kouichi said, trying to think of a solution for the brunette.

Kouji tilted his head, thinking, "You could crash here tonight if you want- Try to avoid your mom that way."

"Uh… are you sure about that? I mean, would your parents be okay with that?" Takuya asked, looking up at Kouji. "I don't want to impose or cause any trouble. Especially if Wolf's going to be hostile to me like he was before."

"Well, Dad's out of town for the next couple days, my mom seems to like you, and Wolf stays downstairs at night. You're not imposing on me, I'm trying to help." Kouji explained quickly, "Plus no need for the cover up."

"Then I can go ahead and wipe this crud off my face. No offense." Takuya stated, adding that little bit at the end as to not offend Zoe, and started to rub the make up off his eye.

"Don't you think you should make sure it's okay with your parents before you wipe that stuff off?" Tommy asked.

Takuya stopped and nodded. "Good catch Tommy."

The younger boy grinned as Takuya quickly pulled out his cell and dialed up his home phone.

Takuya waited patiently till he heard someone pick up the phone. "Hey Mom I…"

"Takuya, there you are. I know you're with your friends now but we need to talk about what happened yesterday. What's this about you getting into a fight at school?"

The gogglehead's eyes widened, not expecting his father to pick up the phone. "Uh… h-hey Dad… uh… sorry, I just… didn't want to run late… and I'm really busy right now… Just wanted to tell you guys that I'm crashing at Kouji's tonight… i-if that's alright?" Takuya answered nervously.

"No it is not. Not until you explain yourself about that incident at school yesterday. I want to know, Right now, what happened." Mr. Kanbara stated evenly. "I want you home and I want the truth."

Takuya swallowed, now he was in trouble. If only his mother had picked up, she might have let him off the hook until tomorrow.

"I uh... This guy was bullying a younger student. He was about to hurt him, so I got involved. That's all. I didn't fight back..."

"Save it. I want to hear it from you face to face. Come home right now and no stalling. Do you hear me young man?" his father interrupted. "You can hang out with your friends later but only after we talk about this. Understand?"

Takuya bit his lip. He knew better than to disobey his father. It'd only further elevate the problem and lead to a really nasty scolding. "Y-yes Dad. I'll come home right away."

"Good. Now hurry up. I will not be kept waiting all day."

Takuya nodded. "Alright." And with that he hung up and released a pent up sigh. He looked to his friends to see the concerned look on their faces. "I… I gotta go. My dad's really mad."

"About yesterday?" Kouji inquired, becoming concerned. He'd been present for a few of Takuya and his father's shouting were not pretty.

The brunette nodded sullenly. His body was tense, and he looked upset.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Zoe offered, trying to comfort the boy again.

The others nodded. "If it'd make you feel better, we'd be happy to accompany you." Kouichi added, smiling softly.

Takuya shook his head, "Nah- You guys go find something fun to do. I'll go face the music."

"You sure Takuya?" Tommy asked, giving his friend a chance to change his mind.

Takuya patted Tommy on the head. "Yeah. I'll be fine." He said, forcing a smile to make it look like he'll be okay. "Don't worry about me okay?"

"If you say so…" Tommy answered, not buying the smile Takuya gave him. JP patted the gogglehead on the back. "Good luck buddy."

Takuya simply nodded and forced himself to move. "See you guys later." He said before leaving the Minamoto residence and making his way back home.

His father was seated in the kitchen, reading the newspaper when Takuya entered the house. "Takuya." The man's tone was unreadable yet icy. Takuya swallowed as he quickly removed his shoes and entered the kitchen.

"Sit." the man instructed, not looking up from his paper. Takuya did as he was told. After a moment, Mr. Kanbara folded the paper and laid it aside, laying his eyes on his eldest son. He glanced at the boy's "injury" but said nothing.

Takuya stayed quiet during the examination, knowing better than to speak before getting permission. The last time he had spoken out of turn, things had gotten really ugly. He didn't like to think about it often. He just knew he had to wait in order to stay on his father's good side, or at least get closer to it.

After a minute, his father finally gave him permission to speak. "Tell me everything that happened from beginning to end."

Takuya gulped and nodded before speaking. "Well… I was on my way to get my gym clothes when I saw some upper classman picking on a kid Shinya's age. He was going to hurt the kid if I didn't do anything… but I swear I didn't lay a finger on him! I just called him out and he punched me!"

The man remained silent, not betraying anything he might be thinking. After a moment of silence, "That was everything that happened?" He didn't fully buy Takuya's story.

Takuya nodded weakly. "Y-yes sir. I swear- that's all that happened," he stammered, starting to feel intimidated by the blank look his father wore. He tried his best to remain calm and keep quiet.

Mr. Kanbara stared at Takuya a while longer, but decided that this wasn't worth grilling the boy for pointless details. "You're free to go."

Takuya fought hard to keep from leaping out in joy of having the terrifying interrogation over. He quickly stood up and made his way to leave the kitchen but stopped, remembering his plans with the gang. He slowly turned to face his father. "Is it okay… if I spend the night at Kouji's?"

Mr. Kanbara looked up from the paper to his eldest. He shrugged and went back to his paper. "Sure."

Takuya couldn't help but smile. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." And with that he hurried back outside before his father could change his mind

He sighed in relief, glad to finally breathe without the stress and fear bearing down on him. Now there was the issue of what to do about what was going on with him.

The brunette ran upstairs to grab a few things to stay and hide out at Kouji's house tonight- and maybe figure out what was happening to his body. He stuffed a change of clothes and something comfortable to sleep in as well as his toothbrush into a backpack. He grimace thinking about his teeth and hope that his dad didn't notice.

For fear that his father may have seen something, Takuya fled the house as silently and swiftly as possible. He sprinted the majority of the way to Kouji's house, slowing once he found his way to Kouji's street. He stopped suddenly, realizing he just ran maybe 20 or so city blocks without breaking a sweat.

Takuya never had this kind of energy before. Well, he did when he was a Digimon… That thought, along with every other oddity that had occurred –the fire, the healing, the impossible jump, the teeth- had further cemented that this had something to do with the Digital World, and was escalating fast. Who knew what would happen next or how drastic his body would change.  
The gogglehead sighed and walked to Kouji's front door, knocking on it. "Kouji, guys! I'm back!"

Kouichi answered the door, covered in flour. "We're making pizza," he explained shortly at Takuya's puzzled expression. "Zoe is the kitchen dictator," Kouichi added, "But don't tell her I said that!"

Takuya laughed, entering the house and laying his things near the door. The was a steady stream of laughter and orders being given coming from the kitchen as the they approached. They entered a flour coated chaotic kitchen with Zoe trying to teach the boys how to make pizza the proper way. They found more fun in flinging flour all over each other.

"Takuya's back and he's still clean!" Kouichi announced before duck for cover. Four pairs of eyes turned on him, a mischievous glint apparent. Flour was flying- again.

It took a good hour before the flour war had finally ended, with everyone coated with a thick layer of the powder. They had decided that it would be easier for them to order pizza due to; one, their appetites grew as did their laziness, and two there was little to no flour to be used to make any.

After doing their best to dust off all the flour and cleaning up the kitchen, the group had settled down in the living room, watching whatever movies they could get their hands on.

Takuya sighed contently, taking his seat at the end of the couch, and continued to shake his hair to remove any remaining flour that could be lost in his unruly locks. "We so do not belong in the kitchen."

"None of you do- I'm just glad the kitchen isn't burnt down or anything drastic." Kouji replied, running a comb through his hair, letting down for once.

"Kouichi started it!" Tommy said, prodding the accused in the stomach.

Kouichi grinned, "Twas fun and you know it. I will now accept my award."

"What award." Kouji said flatly.

"Funnest twin award." the elder said simply, grinning widely.

The younger gave him an unamused look, "Funnest isn't even a word."

"My point exactly." Kouichi finished, earning a few laughs from the others.

"You really are the life of the party Kouichi." JP commented before shoving a slice of pizza in his mouth. "We need to hang out more." He said with a mouthful.

"Save some for the rest of us JP." Takuya added with a laugh, taking another slice for himself.

"But Takuya, you're eating a lot too." Tommy piped in, keeping tabs on how much everyone's eaten.

"Zoe still had the most though."

Takuya chuckled and whispered. "Not surprising. Remember all those plates of curry she had to get those Trailmon tickets?"

"What are you trying to say Takuya?" Zoe asked dangerously, trying to scare the boy.

Kouji took the opportunity to get Takuya back for waking him up so early, "Yeah Takuya- tell us what you really think."

The boy's face became bright red with embarrassment "I.. Uh... Um..." he noticed that Kouji and Zoe were trying to contain their laughter. "Damnit guys! That's not funny!" They burst, laughing at Takuya's expense. "That's so mean."

"Takky, dude. You really need to chill." JP stated, trying hard not to laugh at the priceless look on Takuya's face.

Takuya snorted indignantly. "We'll see who's laughing when I get back at you guys."

"Look what you got him started on." JP sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"Shut up JP." Takuya grumbled and turned his attention to the movie they had put on and proceeded to ignore them.

"Takuya, knock off the attitude, We were just playing." Kouji said sharply.

Kouichi took a gentler approach, "We get your stressed out, we're just trying to get you to have some fun."

"Yeah Takuya. Kouichi's right. Let's just enjoy the movie and have some fun." Tommy added to support his friend.

Takuya sighed and reclined in his seat. "Fine."

"Come on Takuya." Tommy persisted, trying to brighten Takuya's mood.

The gogglehead sighed again. "Alright. Alright. Sorry. I'll try to lighten up." He smiled lightly to stress his willingness which seemed to be approved by the youngest who turned his gaze back to the TV. Maybe some peace would do him some good. God knows he really needs it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alrighty guys. Here's Chapter 4. Hope you all enjoy it. Won't waste any more of your time so let's get started shall we?**

Chapter 4: Don't Panic

A few hours passed; Takuya's mood improved significantly, Kouji's stepmother arrived home, and the others departed as it began to get late. Satomi was more than happy to let Takuya stay over for the night. She thought he was a good influence on Kouji and was glad that he had a friend. She always wondered why he could never get close to someone, then suddenly he had amassed a small group of friends and found his brother. She prepared a light dinner for herself and the boys before they disappeared upstairs into Kouji's room.

Takuya sighed with relief, thankful to be away from Kouji's stepmother. He was having the worst time trying to hide his teeth from her, as her upbeat personality made him want to smile and laugh. He sighed once more before helping Kouji set up a place for him to sleep tonight.

"You can't hide here forever Takuya," Kouji said nonchalantly as he unrolled a spare mattress onto the floor that he had for when Kouichi stayed over.

"I can try can't I?" Takuya quipped, smiling slightly and revealing his sharp teeth.

The younger twin rolled his eyes, "Your mother is going to worry."

"I know... I just... I know okay?"

Kouji didn't reply. The boys settled in for the night, talking about theories regarding Takuya's situation and overall plans they had until they began to feel sleep take over.

Takuya moaned and opened his eyes. He was in the black void. Just like yesterday's dream. A chill ran down his spine. It was just like before. The sounds of a great battle being raged on filled his ears.

The gogglehead looked down below and saw the same two forces fighting against one another. He immediately recognized Agunimon. His gaze then turned to the other. He still found himself getting shivers down his spine from seeing ShadowSeraphimon. Nothing's changed from before.

Takuya watched helplessly as the two mighty forces clashed with each other. Then, it happened again, in a flash of light Agunimon fell to the floor, ShadowSeraphimon standing over him.

"Agunimon!" Takuya called out to the fallen warrior.

He shot up suddenly, panting heavily from the dream. It was just like before. Down to the last detail.

"What's going on?" he asked himself. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the digital clock on the night stand. 1:55. Takuya groaned and laid back down. He just woke up in the middle of the night.

Kouji stirred, "Takuya...?" He sounded groggy. He sat up slowly, "What's wrong?"

"I had the dream again..." Takuya answered softly, rolling onto his side to face Kouji. He blinked. He could see the boy perfectly in the pitch black room.

"That bad huh?" Kouji mumbled, still tired. He reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. Takuya recoiled, blinded by the light. "Takuya?"

The brunette rubbed his eyes gingerly, "thanks for blinding me."

"Sorry?" Kouji apologized uncertainly. "You okay?"

Takuya nodded, "Yeah, I could already see you though."

"Seriously?" Kouji asked. "You could see me just fine without the light? You have night vision now?"

Takuya nodded. "Well yeah, hence the lamp blinding me the way it did." He answered motioning towards the bright lamp light.

"Sorry. Like I was supposed to know." Kouji stated but didn't say more on the subject as to not further agitate his friend. "So, about the dream. It was just like before?"

"Oh yeah. Exactly like before." Takuya answered and ran his fingers through his hair.

Kouji folded his arms and let himself think these things through. "You know, having these reoccurring dreams have to mean something really important."

"So it means that Agunimon died at the hand of ShadowSeraphimon? Gee, Thanks." The brunette replied bitterly.

"Settle down. You still don't know that Agunimon loses."

Takuya huffed quietly, "Sorry."

"Good thing I know your temper is normal" Kouji joked. He shut out the light, "Hey, let's see how good that night vision of yours." He held up three fingers.

"Three." Takuya answered immediately, having no difficulty seeing how many fingers were being held up.

"Okay, let's make it a little harder and tell me which ones I'm holding up." Kouji explained and continued the exercise with his friend, holding up his hand at different angles. After about five correct guesses Kouji decided that it was enough. "Okay, pretty good so far. You really do have night vision."

"Yeah, lucky me." Takuya sighed rubbed his eyes. "Wonder what else is going to happen to me."

"Takuya, you seriously need to calm down." Kouji reprimanded, though with a careful tone as to not set Takuya off. "I know you're stressing out but calming down will do you better than freaking out."

Takuya looked to his friend and nodded. "I know. I know. It's just… hard not to lose it."

"Hey, It'll be okay- Maybe this is a good thing." Kouji said trying to comfort him. "Maybe you're like one of those American superheros you're obsessed with."

The brunette snorted, "That's a laugh. You're the one who told me not to treat the Digital World like a video game."

Kouji shrugged, "I wasn't wrong. Besides, don't those guys act responsibly?"

"They also run around cities in spandex."

"So did we. We just had armor over it." Kouji countered. "Besides, I'm not asking you to dress up in spandex. No one needs to see that."

"Oh ha ha." Takuya replied with sarcasm though he couldn't help but smile a little. "You're hilarious, you know that?"

"Really? I thought I was a sourpuss." The twin said with a smirk on his face.

Takuya shrugged, doing his best to hold in his laughter. "Eh, not all the time. You're getting there."

Kouji threw a pillow at the boy. "At least I'm not a devious maniac like my brother."

"Oh you say that like it's a bad thing. He just knows how to have fun." Takuya shot back, throwing the pillow back at Kouji, hitting him squarely in he face.

Takuya smirked, dodging the next one Kouji threw. "Hey! Hold still."

"I think your aim is getting lousy Kou."

"I told you not to call me that!" Kouji grabbed the pillow and managed to sock Takuya right in the face, payback for the nickname he dreaded.

"Truce! Truce! I surrender!" Takuya held up his hands in defeat before his friend could proceed to pummel him with the pillow. "Jeez, you are feral."

Kouji growled, "I'll show you feral. Go back to sleep Kanbara and stop waking me up." Kouji crawled back into his bed, intent on ignoring Takuya and sleeping for the remainder of the night.

"Touchy." Takuya remarked before laying back down. "Guess sleeping beauty needs his sleep," He mumbled to himself.

"Takuya." Kouji's tone was even and dark, daring the boy to speak again. Takuya shrank under the blankets, clamming up before Kouji murdered him.

With that said and done, the two drifted off back to sleep.

Takuya moaned in his sleep, picking up a scent. Something smelled good. He cracked his eyes open and took more experimental sniffs at the air. The scent was strong and in an instant, he recognized the smell. Eggs? Soon as the thought of food entered his mind, his stomach reacted, growling loudly.

"Kouji! Takuya! Time to wake up! Breakfast is just about ready!" Satomi called out loud enough to fully wake the two.

"Breakfast?" Takuya repeated and a smile formed on his face. Breakfast sounded really good right now. Maybe Kouji would be less of a grouch with some food in his belly.

He sat up, expecting to see Kouji still in his bed. It was empty. He stood up and looked around, half expecting a sneak attack or something of the sorts. Kouji wasn't in the room any longer. "Kouji?" Takuya called out softly. No reply.

After a moment of standing there, he heard water running, like a sink. That explained where Kouji was, but not how he could here the water running in another room, down the hall. "Oh great- something new to add to my list of strange things happening to me." he grumbled to himself.

Kouji reentered the room, showered and dressed. "'bout time you were up," he teased lightly.

"Hey, guess what. I got super hearing now." Takuya stated, exasperated. "I just keep getting more stuff by the hour. What's next? Smell? Taste?"

Kouji sighed. "This sure is developing fast. So you seriously have super hearing now."

"Yup. I heard water running from down the hall; I can hear your step mom cooking downstairs." Takuya answered and sighed. "I don't know what'll happen next."

"Well, let's see. What's happened so far? Super hearing, night vision, fangs, jumping unbelievable heights, super healing, and combusting." Kouji listed.

"Not to mention stamina. Yesterday I was able to run all the way from my house to here without breaking a sweat." Takuya added.

Kouji looked at him, "How come you didn't mention that before?"

"Your brother dragged me into the flour war- remember?" Takuya stated flatly.

"Fair enough."

Takuya slumped against the wall, feeling defeated. "What the hell is happening to me..."

Kouji tied his hair back, and fastened his bandana in place. "Stop worrying- It'll get better. Geez, since when do I have to play the optimist?"

"I know, you're usually such a downer." Takuya teased, smiling a bit.

"Ha, ha. Come on, get dressed and let's go eat okay?" Kouji said with a slight smile. He tossed the brunette a brush, "Tame that mess of hair of yours too,"

"Jeez, you sound just like my mom." Takuya muttered and scratched behind his ear. He stopped instantly and felt his ear. "Oh crap!"

"What?" Kouji asked, not expecting Takuya to scream like that.

The gogglehead brushed his hair out of the way show his ears. They had grown long and pointed like an elf's. "My ears! They're pointy!"

Kouji placed his hands on his friend to help him calm down. "Takuya, you need to calm down. You're going to give yourself a heart attack."

"My EARS are POINTY!" Takuya exclaimed with greater emphasis. It was like the fire thing all over again.

"I see that! Get a grip Takuya! Do you want mom to come up here?" Kouji said calmly. He tightened his grip on the boy's shoulders. "Just take a deep breath. Okay?"

Takuya swallowed nervously, trying to calm down. Truthfully, he was on the verge of tears of panic and frustration. Kouji's grip on his shoulders grounded him thankfully, as he forced himself to take a few deep breaths.

"Better?" he asked.

Kouji sighed, releasing Takuya. "I don't understand this..."

"I have no idea what the hell is happening to me. What the hell am I turning into?" Takuya asked, still feeling scared.

"I don't know Takuya… but we'll figure out what's happening. In the meantime you need to try and stay calm. We're here for you alright?" Kouji replied to reassure his friend. "We will figure this out."

Takuya took a breath and nodded. "I know… it's just hard."

"I know. You just need to keep an even mind." Kouji told him. "Look, mom has breakfast ready for us. Just try to relax, get some food in that bottomless gut of yours and we'll go see the others after we're finished. Okay?"

The boy nodded slowly, not feeling very hungry anymore. He brushed his thick hair over his ears, hiding them pretty well. He then followed Kouji downstairs into the kitchen where Satomi had laid out breakfast for them. Takuya picked at his food, making sure to eat something so he wouldn't hurt Mrs. Minamoto's feelings, but he just wasn't that hungry.

They excused themselves, and set out to the park calling up everyone for a meeting of the minds.

"I look ridiculous." Takuya commented grouchily.

Kouji shot him a look, "Hey, the bandana hides them better than your hat does."

"I still don't get why I have to wear this thing? My hair was doing just fine hiding my ears." Takuya stated, fidgeting with the bandanna. "No one even wears these anymore."

"Oh and like people wear goggles." Kouji countered and continued leading the way to the meeting place.

"Hey! Don't diss the goggles!"

"Don't diss the bandanna." Kouji replied coolly. "Come on. The sooner we get there the sooner you can take it off."

Takuya opened his mouth to come up with some sort of retort but when nothing came out he just sighed and nodded. "Fine. Still looks ridiculous." Kouji groaned. Boy was this kid stubborn.

The park came into sight soon after. Takuya excited bounded ahead, checking for cars this time, before racing to the meeting spot. Like before, no one else was there yet. They sat down beside the tree to wait for the others to show up.

Tommy was first this time, having been able to escape his parents' scrutinizing. He waved to them. They halfheartedly waved back, making the younger boy worry.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked, "And why are you wearing a bandana like Kouji?"

Takuya sighed and looked around one more time to see if there any other people around before lifting the bandanna to show his pointed ears to the younger boy.

"Your ears! What happened to them?!" Tommy exclaimed, taken completely by shock by the elf like ears.

Takuya shushed the youngest and waited a second for Tommy to get over his shock before speaking. "I don't know. I woke up with these things… and with a few new other things."

"Really? Like what?" Tommy asked.

"Well… I can hear a lot better. And I can see in the dark too…" Takuya answered and adjusted the bandanna. "Kouji can I take this thing off now?"

"Jeez you're such a baby Takuya." Kouji muttered to himself.

"How do you stand these things?" Takuya whined, desperate to remove the bandana.

Kouji rolled his eyes, "Better question is how do I stand you sometimes. Tommy is more mature that this Takuya."

Tommy snickered lightly as Takuya glared at Kouji.

"Fighting already?" Zoe teased from behind. She had been standing there long enough to hear the bandana argument.

"No." the three answered automatically.

She rolled her eyes. "Typical boys, So what's the emergency?" she asked, "Did something happen?"

"Kind of..." Takuya stated slowly. "Can you wait until Kouichi and JP get here? I don't want to explain this four times..."

Zoe stared at Takuya. He looked so depressed. She nodded, sitting down beside him "Yeah. I can wait."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Takuya sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in hopes to ease his stress. "It's been pretty rough."

Tommy looked to Takuya with a sad gaze. The poor guy looked like he was really taking this badly. He looked around for his friends and spotted the two coming towards them. "There they are."

"What's up guys? Everyone all here?" JP asked with a smile on his face. The smile disappeared however as soon as he felt the depressing aura around them. "uh…?"

"I gotta show you guys something." Takuya stated, getting their attention. With that, he lifted up the bandanna to reveal his pointed ears causing the three unaware of them to gasp.

"Your ears… they're…" JP stopped, not wanting to come off as insensitive.

"Pointy. I know." Takuya answered and took the bandanna off, deciding not to put up with wearing it any longer. "I woke up with them this morning."

"Along with night vision and above average hearing," Kouji added softly, taking the bandana from Takuya and stowing it in his jacket pocket.

Zoe immediately hugged Takuya, "You poor thing." Takuya blushed, surprised by her action.

"This is so strange, and I was controlled by Cherubimon," Kouichi remarked.

"Not helpful bro."

JP tried not to stare, "How can we help?"

"I-I don't know…" Takuya answered. "I don't even know how this is happening. I mean… this is happening before I even know it."

"Jeez… this is pretty serious." JP muttered to himself. "It just happens out of nowhere?"

"Yeah, like everything else that's been happening to me." Takuya replied heatedly.

JP held up his hands defensively. "Whoa. Easy. It's just a question."

Takuya groaned and hung his head low. "Sorry… I just… it's getting worse. And last night… I had the same dream again. It's driving me crazy."

"The same one with ShadowSeraphimon?" Tommy asked timidly. The brunette nodded, not looking up. He pulled at some grass, toying with it in his fingers. The six sat there in silence, not sure how to respond.

"I wish we could talk to Bokomon... He would know what to do." Zoe said sadly. The little white digimon was highly knowledgable and could either figure the situation out or propose a solution.

Takuya snorted, "I'd take Neemon's advice about now..."

"Is there anything we can do?" JP asked. "Anything at all?"

"I'm not sure. If there were something I think we would have thought of it." Takuya answered.

"What about the train station? The underground one." Tommy suggested. "You think it might still be there? Or at least have something that could help?"

Kouji shrugged. "I'm not sure. Remember, Lucemon tore it apart when he was trying to enter the Human world. Even if we're able to get back to it, I don't think there's much that can help."

"Well it is the Digital World- maybe there's a way to get an SOS out through our phones or online. Ophanimon did it- why can't we?" JP suggested.

They gaped at him. "JP, That's brilliant!" Zoe said gleefully.

"One flaw- Ophanimon was a Celestial Angel. We don't have her powers..." Kouichi pointed out.

"Kouji and Takuya did. EmpeorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon- remember?" Tommy countered with a smile.

"But… how're we supposed to sent out an SOS? I mean… sure we had Ophanimon's power but…" Takuya took out his cell phone and stared down at it. "It's not a D-Tector anymore. Just a regular ol' phone."

"Um… maybe if we check our history?" Tommy suggested.

Takuya blinked and started pressing buttons to view his messages. He silently prayed that the messages were still there. He prayed that there would be something that could help him.

The others followed suit, searching through their messages hoping the one Ophanimon sent them back in the spring was still there. One by one, they came to the end of their message history, only dating back to a few weeks ago, not a few months.

"We could still check out the train station." Zoe offered, supporting Tommy's idea. "There might not be anything but there's a chance there could be something."

Takuya hesitated. "I'm going to stay here- If I'm turning into some kind of creature, The last place I want to be is a train station with a ton of people."

"We don't blame you Takuya." the blonde replied, "Just lay low for now, okay?"

"We'll call if we find anything." JP added, trying to cheer up the despondent brunette.

"Yeah, alright." Takuya nodded, appreciating the amount of effort they were going through to help him. "Thanks guys."

"Don't mention it Takuya." Tommy said with a smile.

"Maybe the rest of us here should try and come up with a few ideas, maybe check the net like JP said." Kouji offered. "Who knows, we might find something."

"Where should we meet up when we're done?" Kouichi asked.

"Probably my place. It's the best at the moment." Kouji answered.

"Alright, So JP, Tommy, Kouichi and I will head to Shibuya and look for anything useful." Zoe chirruped happily, "You two head back to Kouji's and try and figure out what exactly is happening or causing the changes."

The boys nodded, knowing better than to argue with the girl when she put a plan in motion.

"We'll be back in a few hours." Kouichi said as they parted ways.

Kouji nodded, "Good luck." He turned his attention to Takuya, "Let's head back and find a way for you to de-stress."

"How the heck do we do that exactly?" Takuya asked as they made their way back to Kouji's place.

"Well, how do you normal de-stress yourself?" Kouji answered with a question.

The gogglehead shrugged. "I dunno. Soccer, mindless video-games, stuff like that I suppose."

"Well, soccer isn't the best idea at the moment." Kouji stated. "We want to stay away from the public. I'm sure we can figure something out after we're finished searching the internet."

"I just hope we can find something." Takuya added, folding his hands behind his head and observing their surroundings. He sighed after a while. "To think we were supposed to have fun during the break."

"It's kind of hard to enjoy yourself when you know your best friend is hurting," the younger twin stated.

Takuya looked at him, "I am not hurting."

"You are mentally, this is really putting you on edge- You snapped at JP twice." Kouji pointed out, "That and you're scared- and don't try to tell me otherwise. I know you're trying to be strong but this is a lot for one person to deal with."

"I'm just trying to keep control. I don't want this thing to get the better of me. I don't like putting you guys through all of this." Takuya replied, keeping his gaze low.

"Takuya, you can't do this to yourself." Kouji stopped and looked at his friend. "You're tearing at the seams. It's not healthy for you to keep up with those kinds of thoughts."

"I can't help it Kouji. I… I don't like making people worry." Takuya answered and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Kouji could tell Takuya was on a downwards spiral, and it pained him that there was little he could do to help the boy beside watch his best friend turn into some unidentifiable creature. He wrapped his arm around Takuya's shoulders. "Hey, We're in this together- Just like before."

Takuya tried to shrug Kouji away, but he refused to let go. "Come on Kouji get off."

"No. Takuya- You helped me save Kouichi from Cherubimon. You were able to convince me to fight my own brother to save him. This time, we're all going to fight to help you." Kouji pressed, his voice sincere.

Takuya was touched to see such loyalty from his friend. They really did have his back. He knew they were going to do their best to help him. Maybe they could find a way to fix this. Maybe. "Thanks Kouji. I really appreciate it."

"Then don't forget it alright? You don't have to do this on your own. You were the one who showed us what teamwork is like." Kouji let his friend go and lightly punched his arm. "Seriously Takuya, don't forget it."

Takuya rubbed the spot where he was punched. He really did appreciate their help. "I hear you Kouji."

Kouji studied Takuya for a moment. He still seemed upset but it looked like he really was taking this to heart. He was satisfied with it. "Good."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys. Back again with another chapter for ya. It's a little shorter than the other ones but I hope you guys like it and show your support. Well, without further adieu, let's get this chapter started.**

Chapter 5: Closer to the Edge

The trip to Shibuya was pretty much pointless. The elevators only went as far as normal people should be allowed to go. They turned up nothing regarding the subterranean, multidimensional train station, the Digital World, or even evidence of Lucemon's short appearance in the human world.

"I still can't believe we didn't find one thing. Takuya's going to be so disappointed." Zoe said sadly, the four disembarking the train to return to the Minamoto residence.

"They added stuff to the stairs to prevent falls," Kouichi muttered, half amused half annoyed.

JP waved his hand, "Don't let it get to you Kouichi. It was an accident."

"Maybe they found something on the web." Tommy suggested, partly to help get Kouichi's mind off the stairs and partly to give them something to hope for.

"Let's keep our fingers crossed." JP shrugged as they approached the front door of Kouji's house. They knocked on the door and waited as Kouji got the door.

"Hey, did you guys find anything?" Kouji asked. He frowned a little after seeing them shake their heads. Takuya wasn't going to like this. He stepped aside letting them in. "Well, I at least got him to lighten up a little. And I got him something to distract himself with."

JP looked at Kouji curiously. "Uh, what'd you distract him with?"

Kouji pointed to the living room where Takuya was engrossed with a video game.

The group laughed lightly. Typical. They couldn't blame the boy for getting so caught up in the game. He looked up, hearing them, "Hey guys..." he stopped mid-sentence seeing their expressions.

"I'm so sorry Takuya..." Zoe approached him slowly, gauging his reaction. He looked crestfallen, completely forgetting the game. She pulled him into a tight embrace.

Kouichi turned to his brother "Any luck on the web?"

"No." Kouji said softly, "Couldn't find a damned thing."

Everyone seemed to have lost any smile they once had. Through all of their efforts, they ended up with absolutely no results.

Takuya just seemed to relax in Zoe's embrace, letting her just hold him. It offered some comfort but it wasn't enough to raise his spirits. At this point, not much would.

"What're we supposed to do now?" JP asked, breaking the silence.

Kouji shook his head. "I don't know."

"Poor Takuya." Tommy muttered, gazing at Takuya who was still slumped in the blonde's embrace.

Zoe yelped suddenly, "Ah, Takuya!"

The four still in the doorway turned to look. Takuya and Zoe had pulled apart suddenly. Zoe was holding her arm. Takuya was staring at his hands in horror. They approached the pair.

"What happened?" Kouichi asked tentatively.

Takuya stood paralyzed. Kouji came closer and stood beside the brunette, examining Takuya's hands. "Claws..." he breathed.

Takuya stared at his hands, shivering at the sight of his claws. They weren't much longer than normal but the difference was noticeable with the tips curving into sharp points. They looked sharp enough to draw blood with a touch.

JP went over to Zoe's side to check on her arm. "Is it bleeding?"

The gogglehead lifted his gaze to the blonde and to her arm. How he wished he didn't hurt her. He held his breath hoping that he didn't draw blood.

Zoe removed her hand revealing a few faint red lines along her arm. Shallow scratches. Not bad enough to bleed. "It's fine. Just a little scratch."

Takuya backed away slowly, relieved it wasn't something serious, but ashamed it happened at all. He sank to the floor, unable to look any of them in the eye.

"Takuya..." Zoe reached out to him.

"D-don't touch me..." he said weakly,

She withdrew her hand slowly. She knelt before him, "Takuya... It's okay- You didn't mean to do that. You didn't know that would happen." She tried to comfort him, reassure him that it would be okay.

"B-but I… it still happened… I still did it…" Takuya muttered and wrapped his arms around himself to keep himself together and to keep from hurting anyone else.

"Takuya… it wasn't your fault. You didn't have control over it. It just happened." JP said, trying to reassure his friend.

He didn't have control. Takuya was shivering down to his very being. He didn't have control… what if he lost control of himself as his body morphed against his will? He had already snapped at his friends several times when he didn't mean to. What would happen when this progressed? It would be BurningGreymon's rampage all over again. He shut his eyes tight as he heard the terrifying roar of the mighty Beast Spirit.

"Hey, Takuya- Takuya!" Kouji snapped his fingers in front of the boy, trying to bring him back to his senses.

The brunette shook his head, a soft whimper escaped him as he became lost in his fearful thoughts. The five kids stood there, at a complete lose as to how to help Takuya. He was a devastated wreck. Zoe bit her lip. She reached out, laying her hand on his face. He flinched away.

"Takuya please- It's okay..." Tommy pleaded with hated seeing his 'adoptive' big brother shaken to his core.

Takuya curled up in a ball, with his arms covering his face and claws digging into the top of his scalp. He didn't care if it hurt he just wanted some kind of protection; some kind of shield to hide himself behind.

His friends watched helplessly as their former leader sat there in a quivering heap, a shell of his former optimistic and goofy self. They had tried everything they could to help him but none of their efforts bore any fruit.

"Takuya…" Tommy sat beside Zoe and looked at his role model with great concern.

Their calls to him fell on deaf ears. Takuya didn't budge from his spot or stop shaking or even glance up at them. His gaze was on the floor, completely lost in his own self destructive thoughts.

Tears pricked at his eyes that he had squeezed shut. Can't lose control... can't lose it... Have to stay in control... Slipping... Can't... he whimpered again feeling weak, alone, and vulnerable.

The others had to bring the boy back somehow and fast. Zoe glanced at her companions. She pulled Takuya close, holding him gently as the others surrounded them, embracing them securely. "You're not alone Takuya... We're all here."

He struggled in their embrace for a moment before going limp.

"Takuya… you're our friend. You don't have to do this alone. We can help you." Tommy told him, tightening his grip in their hug. "You don't have to be afraid."

"You're one of the bravest guys I know. Nothing ever got you down. You were there to help us when we were afraid." JP added, hoping to get through to their friend. "Don't you remember?"

"You gave us the confidence we needed to face our fears to defeat Sakkakumon!" Tommy added with a soft smile.

Kouji nodded, "Tommy's right, You were so strong, no matter who we were facing."

"You help save me Takuya, You stood up to me and help save me from Cherubimon," Kouichi said.

Zoe whispered to the boy, still holding him tightly. "You're our best friend Takuya. You're our leader. Don't let this control you."

The boy's shoulders trembled as his breathing became shaky and uneven. He hiccupped trying desperately not to break down into tears before his friends. He couldn't handle the stress, the fear- it was suffocating him. Nothing could help him... The tears that had threatened to fall before finally broke through. Takuya sobbed softly, unable to hold in his emotions.

He cried, sobs wracking his boy as he clung to Zoe. He didn't care that he was crying in front of his friends. They now knew that their fearless leader was weak and pathetic.

Zoe held him gently in her arms, trying to soothe the distraught brunette. "It's okay Takuya- just let it all out," she encouraged, "It's okay to cry."

Takuya clung desperately to her, heaving with his sobs as they grew louder. After all this, he just couldn't hold it. He had to let it all out.

The others held onto him tightly and let the poor boy cry to his heart's content. They didn't look down on him. They didn't think any different of him. He was still their best friend and their leader. He was just hurting.

It felt like hours before Takuya fell quiet. He had stopped crying and just sat there quivering and holding onto Zoe like she were a lifeline. He didn't care about how he looked, he just wanted some kind of comfort and his friends gave him the best he could hope for.

He pulled away from her, pain still swirling in his eyes. Zoe smile softly, rubbing his back gently. "Feel better?" she asked.

Takuya nodded slowly. He rested his head on her shoulder, still adverted his gaze. "I'm sorry..."

"For what?" Kouji asked.

"I'm sorry for… for making you see me like this… for making you worry…" he answered softly, his voice hoarse from his loud sobs.

"Takuya…" Tommy looked to his role model with a sad look on his face. "You don't have to apologize for anything. You did the best you could. No one could think less of you."

"But…" Takuya looked to all of his friends, not sure what to say. He had an emotional breakdown right in front of them. How could they not look down on him with what happened?

"Hey, We're only human. It happens." Kouichi reassured, smiling softly.

JP smiled and nodded, "Kouichi is right. Besides, it's better to express your emotions than bottle them up."

Kouji placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "We don't think any less of you- I doubt the rest of us could hold as strong of a front as you have these past few days."

"You don't have to keep it all bottled up anymore Takuya." Tommy added in, a small smile on his face. "You can let us help you. Let us help you."

Takuya looked at all of them and wiped the tears out of his eyes. "Guys… I-I don't know what to say…" He took a deep long breath to help him calm down, to stop anymore tears from forming. "Thanks you guys… you're… you really are the best friends a kid could hope for…"

"That's what we're here for!" Kouichi said happily.

Zoe tilted her head, gazing at Takuya. "Are you alright now?" she asked, carefully taking his hand in hers, minding the new claws on his fingertips. He tensed at her touch, tempted to pull his hands away. "Don't be afraid, I'm not." She said calmly, griping his hand tightly.

Takuya bit his lip and tried to relax. A mixture of emotions filled his being; some such as fear for possibly hurting her and embarrassment from her simple gesture and the possibility of enjoying her holding his hands in hers. He stopped fidgeting and let her hold her hands. "I… I'll be okay." He told her, giving her a small smile.

She smiled back happily. Maybe now he could relax and get a handle on things. Something changed in the atmosphere. The air pressure was rising- rain. He could practically smell it in the air. It made him highly uncomfortable. Thunder rolled in the distance, confirming his suspicions.

"Aww man- I hate storms!" JP whined.

Kouichi raised an eyebrow, "Your Spirit was the Warrior of Thunder..."

"It's complicated, okay?" JP muttered, still mildly embarrassed about his fear of storms.

"It's okay JP." Tommy patted JP on the back, comforting the hefty teen. "We'll be okay as long as we stay indoors. Nothing to worry about."

"I think we might have to stay over though. The storm looks like it might get pretty bad." Zoe muttered, glancing out the window to see the darkening sky. "Is it okay if we spend the night while the storm rolls over?"

"I'm sure my mom won't mind." Kouji answered and shrugged. "You should probably call your parents to tell them about it."

"You got a good point." JP stated. "Our folks will probably freak if they don't hear from us when the storm hits."

They all got to calling their families to let them know they would stay at Kouji's house for the night so they wouldn't get caught out in the bad weather. Most everyone's parents were okay with this save for Zoe's, who were a bit uncomfortable about letting her stay overnight with a group of boys.

"Sheesh mom! They're just friends! Please stop freaking out. I'd much rather be here with them, then stranded on a train with a bunch of strangers."

"Isn't that how we met though? Trapped on a train?" JP commented to the others while Zoe argued with her mother.

"Pretty much." Takuya replied softly, his voice still hoarse from earlier.

The group of boys couldn't help but snicker at their little banter.

The blonde gave them a scathing look to shut them up before going back to arguing with her mother. "Mom, seriously! I'll be fine!"

"Wow they are going at it." Tommy whispered out of Zoe's range of hearing to the others who nodded in agreement as the argument continued.

Zoe sighed, completely exasperated and hung up. "Jeez, my mom worries way too much. Seriously, it's not like you guys are a bunch of thugs."

"Well when you think about all the Digimon we fought..." Kouichi began, smiling slightly

Kouji rolled his eyes, "You're terrible."

"No, I'm fun, Remember?" He grinned brightly.

"So now what?" JP asked, before the twins could start anything.

Tommy shrugged, "I don't know, but I don't think Takuya will be joining us." He nodded to the brunette, sound asleep in a chair.

"That honestly doesn't surprise me." Kouji commented, thankful the by was finally relaxed.

"Poor guy's really been through a lot." JP commented and sat down on the couch. "Wouldn't be surprised if he was out all night."

"Should we move him to a more comfortable place than the chair?" Tommy asked, wanting to make sure Takuya was perfectly comfortable in his sleep.

Kouji shrugged. "Maybe not the best idea. Just let him sleep."

The group nodded and went on with the night; setting everything up so that everyone had a place to sleep, explaining their situation to Satomi when she came home, and after taking care of everything they got settled in with quiet activities as to not wake Takuya up.

Takuya fidgeted in his seat on the chair, his nightmare repeating itself in his sleep. Agunimon and ShadowSeraphimon were locked in combat just like the last two times. Agunimon fell to the ground, just like before.

The gogglehead shot up in his seat panting, sweat drenched his face.

He scanned around the room, seeing the sleeping forms of his friends easily in the dark. He inhaled deeply a few times, calming down slowly. He felt sick to his stomach and dizzy. He pried himself out of the chair, extremely stiff from sleeping there for so long now.

There was a spare place laid out for him near Kouichi after he counted to make sure it was indeed a spare. He smiled to himself, his friends were going out of their way to look out for him. He crept slowly to the spot, careful not to disturb his companions. He half curled up on his side, drifting back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys here's the next chapter for ya. Hope you all enjoy it cuz things are gettin' intense. Hope to hear from all you guys and get your take on it. Well, I won't waste anymore of your time so enjoy.**

Chapter 6: Animal I've Become

The rising sun's light shown through the curtain blinds, gently waking the brunette from his peaceful slumber.

Takuya mumbled and sat up in his place, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He glanced to his friends, a smile forming on his face. He felt lucky to have friends like them. His gaze wandered over to the claws on his hands and he noticed something. Was his skin really this tanned? Maybe it was just the lighting of the house that made it seem that way.

He turned his attention to his friends as they were slowly beginning to rise from their slumber as well. He decided to drop the deeper color of his skin and smiles at the group. "Good morning everyone."

"Someone's feeling better." Kouji teased, yawning slightly. Takuya stuck out his tongue, careful not to pierce it on his sharp teeth.

Zoe yawned, "Already? You two seriously bicker like an old married couple."

Kouji didn't dignify a response. "Did everyone sleep well?"

"You bet, The floor is such a comfortable place to sleep," Kouichi said with a sarcastic grin. Kouji threw a pillow at him.

"Well, it's better than those leaf beds we made back at the Digital World. Or sleeping on those benches or on Trailmon." JP offered up and stretched.

Tommy nodded with JP. "JP's right. I didn't like sleeping on the Trailmon. Remember when they would hit a bump and we would all just fall out of our seats?"

"That wasn't fun at all." Takuya remarked with a chuckle and stretched his back out. "I remember being so stiff during the rides and then just falling flat on my face whenever we hit a bump."

"Don't get me started- remember the loops in the track? The ones that went upside down!?" Zoe asked, grimacing at the thought of the roller-coaster Trailmon track.

"That was the worst!" JP said with a laugh.

Takuya shook his head, "The vertical climb after it was worse."

Kouichi stared at them blankly, missing out on the majority of their experiences of Trailmon travel. "If you guys say so."

Kouji stood up, changing the subject. "Okay- who wants breakfast?"

Takuya's ears perked from the word. Now that it was mentioned he was pretty hungry. "I'd kill for some breakfast."

"Let's go get something to eat then." Tommy said in agreement. "Do we have to make it ourselves?"

Takuya patted Tommy on his shoulder "Don't you remember the last time we were in the kitchen? I think the kitchen's suffered enough from our flour war as it is." He said with a grin getting Tommy to snicker with him.

"Takuya- You really shouldn't go out into public..." Zoe started, his expression faltered."Um... I'll make something. No problem!"

Takuya looked at her, "Zoe you don't have to do that."

"Nonsense, I love to cook!" She waved her hand dismissively. She headed into the kitchen to begin making something for them to eat. Kouji followed her.

"Here, I'll help you out," he offered, "It'll be easier since I know where everything is."

Takuya sank back on the makeshift bed, running a hand through his hair. He paused. It felt- different than he remembered- thicker... longer? He tugged at his bangs, noticing they had indeed gotten longer. "Oh no..." He went for a mirror, sprinting to the bathroom. It wasn't his imagination- his skin had gotten darker, becoming a dusty brown color. His hair had grown out by a few inches as well- the roots of his once dark brown hair now a vivd orange.

"No… no, no, no…" Takuya shook his head in disbelief. The dusty brown skin, the bright orange hair, the claws, the fangs. He truly understood what he was becoming. He was becoming that creature. The one DarkTrailmon turned him into.

Flamon…

Takuya ran out of the bathroom and tumbled into the living room, startling his friend with his actions.

"Takuya, what's wrong?" Tommy asked as he tried to approach his friend without scaring him.

"I… I…" Takuya was freaking out, his hands clasped over the top of his head.

Zoe and Kouji came running out of the kitchen, hearing their commotion. "What the heck is going on in here?" Kouji demanded.

Takuya looked up at them fearfully. His mind was screaming "run!" but he remained rooted to the spot. Then it started.

A wave of pain hit him, forcing him to double over. He cried out, falling to his hands and knees. His friends' concerned voices became distant. He could feel the fire welling in his chest, eager to burst free. He couldn't allow it- He wouldn't- Pain struck him again. He was at the mercy of his Digimon half.

He was panting, his body shook as it began to change. His feet became larger, with three toes each bearing a bright red claw. His hair grew out into a vibrant orange mane. His eyes turned bright green, becoming larger and catlike. He yelped in pain as a bright orange tail sprouted at the base of his spine. He cried out once more, his body glowing with a blinding bright light. It flashed, sitting in Takuya's place, was Flamon.

"T-Takuya?" Zoe called to him hesitantly upon seeing Flamon taking Takuya's place.

The small fire Digimon stayed quiet for a moment before looking up at the group. His eyes had a feral look to them, completely unrecognizable from everyone's point of view. He let out a small growl, a warning for none of them to get any closer.

Kouji took a defensive stance in front of Zoe as to not give the Digimon a chance to hurt her.

"Takuya… you don't want to do this. We're your friends… remember?"

Flamon growled at Kouji, teeth bared. "Takuya! Please!" Zoe called out, trying reach to Takuya's conscious.

His mind was clouded. He just had to run, he had to get away. He needed to hide- anywhere he could hide. He held his head. The digimon snarled, backing into the wall. He jumped in fright, body rigid. He glanced at the five people before him. Everything was telling him to run away, but he just couldn't.

"Takuya! It's us!"

"We're your friends."

"Don't you recognize us?"

They moved closer, he felt trapped. One of them grabbed his arm. He twisted and pulled, wrenching his arm away from the boy.

"Don't let it control you Takuya!"

He looked at the youngest, eyes wide... That voice... Those words... He remembered this pain from before... this fear... BurningGreymon... He'd suffered like this before... They... They had saved him.

His eyes softened, shame replacing the fear in them. He turned, bolting for the door. He wrenched it open and disappeared before they could register what just happened.

Flamon ran as fast as he could, anything to get away. He couldn't let them see him like this. He fought back tears as he ran down the street. He was going to attack them; he could have hurt one of them. 'Monster…' Takuya ran into the park. The grass was wet and muddy, probably from the storm before. Maybe that would discourage anyone from walking into the park. Maybe no one would find him there.

He yelped, slipping on the mud, and fell flat on his face, getting mud everywhere. He quickly got up and wiped his face before running again. God he was a pathetic sight. 'Please, let this torture end…'

The group of friends did their best to chase after their companion but Flamon's had been too much for them to even try to keep up. He was quickly lost from their sight.

"We lost him!" Kouji growled, upset about not being able to keep up.

"What're we going to do?"

"We have to split up and look for him." Kouji answered, taking position as their leader. "We need to find him before something happens to him."

Takuya continued to run until he just couldn't run anymore. He collapsed next to a tree, curling up into a tight ball, crying softly. He felt cold, wet, miserable, and alone. His friends look terrified at the sight of him. He doubted he had the courage to face them. He was a freak in their eyes...

His friends on the other hand fanned out and began to search high and low for the frightened gogglehead turned Digimon. Splitting up proved to fruitless, seeing as Takuya seemed wilder than a human should be. They regroup after an hour of no trace of the poor boy.

"Oh... He looked so scared... I hope he's okay." Zoe said aloud, nervously wringing her cold hands as the five stood outside Kouji's house, trying to come up with a plan.

Kouji nodded, "We have to find him- somehow..."

"He doesn't want to be found..." Kouichi said softly, "He's a Digimon now- if he's hiding we may never find him."

"But where would he hide? This is all urban! There isn't much of a place to hide!" Kouji argued back.

JP got between them, "Fighting isn't going to help us find Takuya!"

"Takuya... Where did you go?" Tommy asked sadly.

"How're we going to find him?" Kouichi asked with a hand over his chin as a sign to show that he was thinking. "It's hard to think what he would do in the state of mind he's in."

"He wouldn't go into the city would he?" Tommy asked in hopes to narrow down their options.

"I don't know if he would. I would think he would try to avoid any populated areas." JP answered after giving it some thought. "Where else is there?"

Kouji shook his head, "I should know this... Takuya is my best friend- I just... I've never seen this side of him before!"

"Where is Takuya the most comfortable then Kouji? It's a place to start." Zoe suggested.

"Well, he's always bugging me to play soccer..." Kouji started.

JP interjected his theory, "Maybe the school? It's not in session."

The blonde put her hands on her hips, annoyed. "I said comfortable JP, Takuya hates school."

"But it's the last place we would look!" JP argued back, "Right? So he might have gone there!"

"There's a soccer field nearby too," Tommy added.

Zoe sighed, "Alright- Let's check Takuya's school."

"Maybe it's best if we split up. Three of us go to the school and the other two try other places we think Takuya might be." Kouji added making sure they cover as much ground as possible. He wanted to find Takuya as fast as possible. "Hopefully we'll be able to find him before anything happens."

"Alright. I'll take Zoe and Tommy to Takuya's school." JP suggested.

"Then Kouji and I will look around here and see if we can figure out any other places he could be." Kouichi added.

The group nodded with agreement on the plan. "Be sure to text the other group if you have sight of him."

"And make sure not to upset him… he might run away again if we do." Zoe added the final details to the plan.

With that the group had split up in search of their friend. Zoe, JP, and Tommy made their way to Takuya's school and stopped before the soccer field, scanning the whole premises for the small fire Digimon.

Kouji and Kouichi headed towards the train station and the park, having a better understanding what happened the last time Takuya became this Digimon. He told them how he had run away and that an apparition of Duskmon chased him. He told them about the people he'd frightened- some of them close to him personally.

"Please Takuya- Just give us a sign..." Kouji whispered as he and Kouichi raced towards their destination.

Takuya, meanwhile, sat beneath the tree, shivering from the cool damp air. He glared at his muddied, clawed hands and feet, loathing the creature he'd become. He turned, raking his claws across the tree's trunk, trying to dull them. It only succeeded in sharpening them, like a cat.

He shivered again. The mud he'd fallen into earlier chilled his body to his core. He felt weak and nauseous. He just wanted to curl up and die on the spot. His friends surely hated him- hell, he hated himself. He shook his head wildly, pulling at his thick orange hair.

He threw his head back in frustration, unleashing a pained howl. He drew his knees to his chest. Monster... Freak... Beast... cursed to be an outcast.

Kouji stopped, hearing a sound. "Hey, you hear that Kouichi?"

"Yeah, I heard it. It sounded like something was in real pain." Kouichi answered, having heard the howl loud and clear. "You think maybe it's him?"

"It's our best shot." Kouji said while looking in the direction the howl came from. "Let's check it out."

The twins jogged towards the spot where the howls seemed to originate while doing their best not to make too much sound as to not possibly alert Takuya to their presence and scare him off again.

Takuya dug his claws into his arms and scratched and rubbed them furiously as if there were bugs under his skin. Freak… abomination… demon… He howled out again, with just as much pain and frustration as before.

"There is is again!" Kouichi observed as the got near the park entrance. He stopped, "Look there!" he pointed a mud puddle. It looked like something had fallen into it, splashing it all over.

Kouji smiled a bit, "Brilliant! He must be here."

They entered the park slowly, knowing full well that Takuya could be gone before they ever saw him. They stuck to the path, half hoping to hear another cry to help them pinpoint the boy's location. "Let's check by our tree, It has a good vantage point." Kouichi suggested, leading the way.

"Wait." Kouji stopped. Something was telling him they were close. He could have sworn he could feel the pain Takuya was experiencing. He looked to a small cluster of trees, surrounded by shrubs. A good place to hide provided you can squeeze between the bushes.

They approached the little grove, holding their breath. Choked sobs emanated from the cluster of shrubs. The twins nodded to each other. Kouichi quickly texted Zoe while Kouji tried to peer through the branches.

Sure enough, there was the dejected Digimon, covered in blood and mud. Takuya's clawed hands were buried in his own arms as tears poured down his face. The sight was heartbreaking. Kouji didn't wait for Kouichi to ready himself. He pushed through the bushes into the small opening.

"Takuya..."

Takuya's eyes widen and snapped out of his gaze when he heard Kouji's voice from behind him. The fire Digimon pulled away from him, pressing himself up against the shrubs. "S-stay away!"

"Takuya… please, I'm your friend." Kouji called out to him with a calm voice and he continued to push himself through the opening. "You don't have to be afraid."

"No… I…" Takuya covered his face with his armored arms, small flames flickering around them in tune with his emotions. If his emotions grew any stronger he could possibly burn everything down with his flames.

Kouji saw the flames and stopped in his place. As much as he hated to admit it, one wrong move and it would really be the BurningGreymon incident all over again. "Takuya, I'm your friend. I can help you. Please, you don't have to do this to yourself. Please, just give us a chance."

"Stay away! Just stay away from me!" Takuya wailed, flames building around his body. Kouji instinctively flinched back into someone else. Kouichi stood behind Kouji, peering over his brother's shoulder.

"Let me talk to him," the elder twin insisted. Kouji nodded numbly and switch places with him. Kouichi knelt low to the ground, getting to Takuya's level. "Kouji- Back away." Kouji did as he was told, backing into the bushes. Kouichi inched closer to Takuya.

Takuya scrambled back, flames glowing brighter around him. "Easy Takuya- I'm not going to hurt you."

The former brunette stared at Kouichi, eyes wide with shame and terror. They were talking to him like he was a spooked animal. Monster... Beast... He lashed out at Kouichi, trying to force him away.

The elder twin stood firm, not flinching. "Takuya. I know what you're feeling. I understand. When you guys saved me from Cherubimon, I thought you would hate me, resent me- but you guys didn't. You weren't afraid of me, and I'm not afraid of you. It's okay now."

"N-no… I'm a… look at me I'm a…" Takuya looked to his hands, blood and mud splattered together on his palms and fingers. "I'm nothing but a freak…"

"Takuya, look at me." Kouichi told him firmly, having the former human look up to meet his gaze. "I was exactly the same way… I became something I never wanted to be but… you did save me. If you can help me… then I know we can help you. You just need to give us a chance."

Takuya lowered his gaze. He was still frightened. Still disgusted with himself. But he did hear what his friend was saying. 'God I'm pathetic…'

"Takuya." Kouichi called out, getting his attention again. "We can help you. We all care about you. None of us think any less of you. You're still the same person we've come to respect. You don't have to hate yourself… you don't need this kind of self loathing. I know what that's like… but please, let us help. You can like yourself again. You can be you."

He hung his head sadly, defeated. He backed up against the tree, so ashamed of himself- of his behavior- Everything! Before he realized it, The twins had encircled him, pulling him carefully to his feet.

"God Takuya... what did you do?" Kouji asked, looking at the deep gashing in the boy's arms. He didn't respond. Kouji sighed, "Let's get you home so we can clean you up."

Kouichi helped support the boy gently as they made their way out of the bushes. The others arrived at the entrance just as they emerged from the bushes. Zoe gasped. JP and Tommy looked too stunned for words.

"He's hurt pretty bad- we need to get him patched up before those cuts get infected," Kouichi instructed.

JP stepped forward, "I'll carry him. He's in no shape to walk."

With that, the eldest boy lifted the injured Digimon into his arms. He was startled by how badly injured he was from close up. The group huddled closely together as they made their way back to the Minamoto residence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys. Got another chapter for you and a longer one to boot. We'd like to think that this is as the end of the first section. Things are gonna get intense from now on so I hope you guys enjoy and stick around for the ride. Hope to hear from you guys and see how you like the new chapter. And without further adieu, I give you Chapter 7. Happy early Halloween everybody!**

Chapter 7: Fix Me

Zoe cast several glances at Takuya, worry and dread laced with her emotions. She wished there was something she could do to help her friend. To bring him back from the self loathing state he was in.

Tommy lowered his gaze. His 'surrogate' big brother was hurting so badly. He couldn't look too long at the wounds; how blood mixed with mud and sweat on his skin. It was almost too much to bear.

The group arrived at Kouji's house and placed Takuya on one of the clean cots on the floor from when they were sleeping.

Kouichi, Tommy, and Zoe gathered the supplies the needed, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, clean water, towels, bandages, a needle and thread- just in case. Kouji and JP held Takuya still while Zoe cleaned the wounds, dabbing them gently with a towel dosed in warm water. Once they were clean, she went to apply the rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the wounds.

Takuya writhed, howling in pain when the antiseptic touched his skin. "Takuya! Settle down! I know it hurts but it can't be infected!" Zoe cried. Kouji and JP fought to restrain him. She continued, carefully cleaning the wounds. He was shivering and shaking with anxiety.

"Come on now Takuya..." Kouichi coaxed, "we need to bandage them now. Then we're done."

Takuya continued to shiver, hissing in pain once the bandages were wrapped firmly over his wounds. Tears continue to prick his eyes from the measures the group went to clean and dress his wounds.

Tommy watched sadly as his friends tried to hold him down long enough to finish their job. He felt bad enough not being able to do anything. All he could do was watch.

Kouji and JP sighed simultaneously once Zoe had finished wrapping up Takuya's wounds. They gently let their friend go and he pulled away from their grasp.

Takuya was on his hands and knees, his demeanor showing that he was incredibly uncomfortable with the way he was restrained.

Zoe knelt beside him, laying a hand on his back gently. The boy flinched at her touch, trembling still. She carefully rubbed his back in an even soothing motion, hoping it would calm him down enough for him to relax. He closed his eyes, sitting up to his knees, unable to bear his weight on his arms. He found her presence comforting. Takuya found himself leaning into her side, resting his cheek on her shoulder.

She saw the way Takuya was starting to relax. She was making progress in comforting him. She continued to gently rub his back, careful not to make him uncomfortable. Takuya was beginning actually feel comfortable; her presence made him feel safe. A purr couldn't help but come from his throat from the way she rubbed his back.

The others exchanged curious expressions, Takuya was purring like a kitten. Zoe smiled, moving her hand away from his back, instead running her fingers through his wild hair. Takuya's purring grew louder, a slight smile appearing on his face.

"How're you making him do that?" Tommy asked, having not expected Takuya to purr the way he was.

Zoe shrugged with a smile and continued running her fingers through his hair. For added measure she started scratching behind one of his ears, mindful of the earrings. This only escalated the purring and even got Takuya's tail wagging around like a dog would.

The others just watched as Takuya just became putty in Zoe's hands, a lot of the tension just melting off his shoulders.

"At least he's smiling." Kouji said, feeling relieved that despite everything that happened just today alone, Takuya could be cheered up- even if it meant petting the boy like Kouji would pet Wolf.

The purrs began to quiet down, Zoe leaned forward carefully to check on him. His eyes were closed peacefully. "He's asleep," she whispered.

The group sighed softly. "Next order of business- how to change him back," Kouichi proposed.

"If he doesn't go home soon- his parents will freak out." Kouji added, remembering how sullen Takuya had become when his father demanded him home to question him about the fight at school.

"How're we going to change him back?" Tommy asked with a thoughtful look on his face. "I can't really think of anything that could change him back."

JP folded his arms and bit his lip. There had to be a way to change him back. "Well, maybe if we go by how we normally revert?"

"Well… for us it was usually when we were beaten or tired…" Kouji answered though with the look on his face it was easy to tell he didn't think it would be a good idea.

"We have to figure something out." Zoe stated, a little distressed though making sure not to wake Takuya up.

"You have to remember- this wasn't an evolution like ours were- it was slow and progressive over a few days..." Kouji pointed out, "I don't think conventional means will work."

Tommy grimaced at his thought, "What if Takuya can't change back..?"

"We can't afford to think like that Tommy, we have to stay positive," JP replied firmly.

"Maybe we should look for the what caused it or why it happened. You have to treat the source, not the symptoms Mom says," the elder twin suggested, "There's got to be a reason behind this."

"But, where can we find the source?" Tommy asked. "We know it's something to do with the Digital World but we don't have a way to reach them."

"There has to be a way to contact the Digital World somehow." Kouichi replied, pressing a hand firmly on his forehead in an attempt to think. "There has to be something we haven't thought of."

"Well, what kind of digital thing could possibly happen to cause this?" Zoe asked, seeing if maybe it  
could provide some way to go on."

JP shrugged. "Digital World in trouble maybe? Though why it doesn't explain why it only effected Takuya."

Kouji's eyes lit up with a thought, "What if it's just his spirits that are in trouble? He keeps dreaming about Agunimon fighting ShadowSeraphimon."

"That's actually a really good theory." Zoe replied, carefully shifting Takuya from her shoulder to her lap.

"We'd still need to contact the Digital World though..." Kouichi pointed out, "Or we'll never know for sure."

"Which begs the question, how do we contact the Digital World?" JP stated, a puzzled look on his face. "We tried everything we can think of; going to the train station, checking our contacts, checking the internet."

"Wait. If Takuya's a Digimon, you think maybe his phone transformed too?" Tommy suggested.

The others looked to the sleeping Digimon. Well, it was certainly possible. Maybe he did have a D-Tector. There was only one way to find out though.

Zoe saw that look in their eyes- the up-to-something look. "Guys let him sleep." She said sharply, "He's exhausted. We can check when he wakes up."

"I agreed with Zoe- He's hardly slept these past few days, or has been plagued by bad dreams. Just let Takuya rest." Kouji added, fully backing Zoe up.

They dropped the issue for the time being, instead addressing one that began a while earlier- Food. Takuya's sudden transformation and flight from the house had let breakfast abandoned in the kitchen- fortunately, nothing had been turned on yet so the house wasn't burned down.

Kouichi dragged JP and Tommy into the kitchen, while Kouji supervised from the dining room table. Zoe remained on the floor, with Takuya sound asleep with his head in her lap.

Within minutes delicious aromas began to waft throughout the house, the trio in the kitchen having cooked whatever was left in the kitchen. They had decided upon raiding the fridge and pantry to create a soup consisting of buckwheat noodles, leftover shrimp, and fresh vegetables. It was perfect after running around out in the cold air looking for Takuya.

Takuya's sensitive nose picked up the scent rousing the boy from his slumber. He slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. He didn't remember falling asleep. Confusion took root when he realized he was laying on something fuchsia. His eyes widened when it finally dawned on him that he was resting his head on Zoe's lap and quickly shot up, face bright red.

Zoe was startled by Takuya's actions. "Takuya, easy! You're still hurt!"

"Z-Zoe… I uh…" Takuya was completely speechless. He had no way to respond, at least not intelligibly.

"Hey, sleeping beauty. You hungry?" Kouji asked, grinning from across the room. He could see the blush splashed across the poor boys face from a mile away.

Takuya glared at the younger twin. Zoe laughed a bit, "Oh relax Takuya. I moved you there. You were leaning on my shoulder."

That news didn't seem to make him feel much better as his blush deepened. Zoe smiled and reached behind the unsuspecting boy's pointed ears and rubbed them gently. His eye lids fluttered and closed as his body went nearly limp. "How're you doing that?" Takuya asked, not noticing the purr building in his chest.

"Hey guys lunch is…" Tommy popped his head out of the kitchen and saw Takuya was awake and in a state of pure bliss with Zoe rubbing his ears. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Zoe's working her magic on him." Kouji stated with amusement. "Zoe, you can stop now. Food ought to keep his mind occupied."

The blond nodded and stopped the treatment, bringing Takuya back to reality. The Digimon snapped out of his daze and got up, face still a little flustered from before but he decided to let it go and went to the dinner table. His stomach was growling up a storm.

They grouped around the dining room table, eagerly digging into a large quantity of some kind of noodles, shrimp, and vegetables in a golden yellow broth. The six inhaled the food with gusto, not realizing how hungry they really were, until nothing but empty bowls remained.

Takuya still looked a little flustered from earlier, but overall was perking up and beginning to smile a bit. They settled back in the living room, knowing a fair bit of time remained before Mrs. Minamoto returned from work. "So Takuya- Where is your phone?" Kouji asked, getting back to business.

"My phone?" Takuya asked, not sure where that came from. Takuya shrugged and reached into his pocket, deciding to ask questions after complying. He felt an object but it wasn't his phone. Its shape felt familiar. He quickly pulled out the object and what he saw shocked him. It was his D-Tector.

Tommy smiled brightly. He was right. Takuya's phone did change back into a D-Tector. "I knew it!"

"Tommy was right!" JP exclaimed with glee and patted the younger boy congratulatory on the back.

"How did…" Takuya examined the D-Tector. It was still the same newer model from before though when he scanned through he found that he didn't have the Spirits within it. Just static on the screen.

"Finally, Progress!" Kouichi exclaimed with relief, "Maybe now we can get a message to the Celestial Angels."

Takuya held up the D-Tector, showing the static filled screen. "I'm not so sure guys... It's just static."

JP took the device carefully, "I might be able to tap into it- kinda like Datamon did with Tommy's beast spirit."

"Maybe later, First we need to see if Takuya can change back to normal." Kouji pointed out, taking the D-Tector from JP and passing it back to Takuya.

Takuya looked down at the D-Tector and cocked his head to the side since he wasn't sure what he could do to change himself back. He started pressing the buttons, seeing if it would do anything.

"Takuya, you sure that's a good idea messing with it like that?" Tommy asked as his friend continued to button mash with little response from the D-Tector aside from the beeping it made.

"Well, there's not much else I can think of doing with it." Takuya admitted before shaking the device to see if it would yield any results despite calls from his friends telling him stop before he breaks it. "Two buttons and a scanner can't really do much."

Takuya growled and placed the D-Tector on the table. "How the heck did I get this piece of junk to work?"

"Oh geez Takuya." Zoe picked up the device, pointing the scanner at him, pressing the button on the side to activate the scanner. Nothing happened.

Kouji raised an eyebrow, "That was effective." She grinned sheepishly before passing it back to Takuya.

"Great- I'm stuck like this..." Takuya moaned, "I can't go home like this! My family will freak out call animal control or something!" He lowered his gaze, staring at the ground glumly. "This is hopeless!"

"Easy Takuya. Look, we have a better lead on how to fix this than we did before." Kouichi stated, looking down at the uncooperative device. "We just need to figure out how to make this thing work."

"Easier said than done. These things have minds of their own." Takuya muttered while spinning the D-Tector on the table. "Man… what the heck am I supposed to do?"

The group looked at Takuya with sad looks on their faces. He was beating himself up again. Maybe not to the same extent as before but with how he had been acting lately, they couldn't help but wish terribly that he would go back to his usual happy go lucky self.

"How did you change back last time?" Kouji asked quietly.

Takuya stopped toying with the device. His expression darkened "Last time- I lost my way... I was a bad leader and you guys paid the price... I was only able to change back after I accepted my responsibilities as a leader and face my mistakes."

"Maybe it's a similar thing then?" Kouichi suggested, not sounding too sure though.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Takuya snarled, taking that Kouichi meant that this whole thing was to teach him a lesson.

"Whoa. Takuya, please, calm down. I'm sure Kouichi didn't mean anything bad." Tommy said to his friend, trying to make sure that he didn't tackle Kouichi in a fit of anger.

JP looked to the older twin. "What did you mean?"

"I think that maybe there's just something he needs to accept. I don't know what but as soon as he does, maybe he can change back like he did before." Kouichi answered with a shrug, not sure if it'd really help or not. "I dunno about any mistakes but there might be something."

Takuya crossed his arms growling softly, "That's not helpful."

"Your temper isn't either, so settle down," Kouji snapped back, making the boy shrink away and stop growling, "Better."

Zoe leaned on the table, resting her chin in her hands. She looked thoughtful as she tried to analyze the situation before Takuya blew another gasket. "What would you have to accept though?"

"That I'm a freak of nature?" Takuya replied in a sarcastic, bitter tone.

"Okay, Takuya, you really need try and chill." Kouji stated, staring hard at Takuya. "We're trying our best to help here but that attitude is really making it difficult."

"Like it's my fault!" Takuya snapped, getting up from his seat. "You have no idea how freaking hard it is to be this… this fire breathing freak!"

Tommy shrank away from Takuya's outburst. Takuya looked dangerously close to losing control; the room heating up with the rise of his anger. "Takuya…"

"Takuya please calm down!" Zoe pleaded with him, "You're scaring us... Just look at Tommy!" She gestured to the younger boy, half cowering behind JP and Kouichi.

The former brunette looked at Tommy- the expression he wore was near identical to the one he had when Takuya had been possessed by his enraged Beast Spirit. Shame clouded his vibrant green eyes. He swallowed slowly, feeling guilty. "S-sorry..." he mumbled, they were just trying to help after all. Sinking back into his seat, the room cooled off significantly and Takuya fell silent again.

"Do you really hate being a Digimon that much?" JP asked curiously, pursuing an idea he had.

"I… I don't know… I just… the last time I was this form… when I was here; I scared so many people… I even scared one of my neighbors… I was just some… some wild beast… I was so afraid…" Takuya explained, his gaze staying low to the floor, unable to look up at them. "And… and throughout all that time… I… I was being hunted by…" he decided to stop, not wanting to bring up Duskmon.

"I see…" JP stated, going off into his own chain of thought.

Takuya shrugged and fiddled with his thumbs, still unable to look up at them. He was still feeling so much shame from before.

"So.. It's just this Digimon bothers you- even though it's part of your Spirits" JP asked after careful consideration of his words. Mostly because his lack of tact in the past earned him an elbow in the gut from Zoe.

The boy nodded slowly. "It carries a lot of negative feelings and memories..."

"Well… um…" JP bit his lip and tried to think his words carefully. "maybe… you just need to… come to terms with your feelings… with this Digimon?"

Takuya looked at JP with a funny look. He wasn't sure what to make of what JP said. "What are you… what're you saying?"

"Well… maybe if you came to terms with it… maybe you can have control over it?" JP answered slowly as if to make sure his words made sense. "You know what I mean?"

"I think so... but... I..." Takuya trailed off, looking away again. "I'm not sure I can..."

Tommy moved to Takuya's side, "You were able to do that for BurningGreymon... and he was a lot worse."

"He's right, your Beast Spirit was far more trouble than this form could have been," Kouji added, trying to make it sound positive.

"Besides, you look so adorable as this Digimon!" Zoe said brightly, hugging him gently.

Takuya blushed furiously. "Zo-e!"

The others proceeded to laugh as Takuya struggled in Zoe's embrace.

Takuya was completely flustered. He was completely caught off guard by the blonde's actions. His face was as red as his clothes as he was kept in her embrace. His blush grew deeper upon hearing his friends' laughter. "Guys… this isn't funny…"

That only made it funnier for the group as they started to laugh even harder.

Takuya groaned. "Zoe… please… this is embarrassing…"

She let go, knowing she'd embarrassed him enough before rounding on the others. "Think that's funny?" she asked, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. They all quickly shut up, much to Takuya's relief.

"So... if I try to accept this form... I can change back..." Takuya said aloud, trying to think of a way he could do such a thing. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and thought.

Good things... This form must be good somehow. He learned how much he valued his family. He learned how to take charge and be responsible. He stood up to Duskmon, a figure that terrified him, teaching him courage. Maybe... Maybe this wasn't so bad...

Gasps took him by surprise. He opened his eyes, looking around the room at his friends. "What? What's wrong?" he asked nervously.

Zoe dug into her purse and pulled out the compact mirror and handed it to the boy. Takuya felt even more nervous and took the mirror but stopped when he realized something.

His hands… they weren't dusty brown anymore. There were no claws at the tip of his fingernails. He wasn't wearing those bright red gauntlets. They were normal. He quickly opened the mirror and saw his own face. He didn't see Flamon anymore. He saw Takuya.

The gogglehead jumped out of his seat in glee. "I'm me again! I'm me again!" he quickly grabbed the two closest people to him and started jumping around with them in his arms. "It's so great to be me again! No more tail! No more claws! I'm one hundred percent me!"

"Takuya!" Kouji growled, now one of the giddy brunette's hostages, "LET. GO."

Takuya grinned sheepishly, releasing Tommy and Kouji from his grasp. "S-sorry."

"I can't believe that worked!" JP said, astounded that his theory proved to be right.

"Thank you JP- Everyone!" Takuya exclaimed, still excited and relieved to be human again.

Kouichi tilted his head, picking up Takuya's D-Tector, "Well I hate to be a downer. but it could happen again- your phone didn't change back." He passed the device to Takuya.

"That can't be good..." Kouji said softly, "Something else must be happening in the Digital World besides this."

Takuya looked down at the D-Tector, dread filling his being at the thought that this could happen again. "What do you think is happening?"

"We don't know. We're still trying to figure that out." Tommy answered. "If only we could get the D-Tector to work."

"I dunno how I feel about toying with this thing." Takuya answered. "This thing could do just about anything" He sighed and tapped his forehead with the device. How did they communicate before? He remembered Zoe had called him at one point while he was stuck inside Sakkakumon. "Hey, Zoe? You remember what you did with your D-Tector to call mine?"

"Pushed buttons." She replied, "Sorry Takuya- I really don't know."

JP moved over beside Takuya, "Let me take a look- now that your human it might respond." Takuya shrugged and passed it to JP. He sat back at the table, tinkering with it carefully.

"Regardless, we need to figure out what's happening and why. Fast." Kouji stated simply, "Digimon aren't supposed to be in the real world, remember?"

"You don't think I'll go crazy do you? Like what Bokomon said would happen if a Digimon were to enter the Digital World?" Takuya asked, feeling nervous at the idea of completely losing his mind.

"I'm not sure. But I don't want to risk it. Don't worry Takuya, we'll figure this out." Kouji answered and looked over JP's shoulder as he tinkered with the Digivice. "You know what you're doing JP?"

JP stayed concentrated on his work on the D-Tector. "Of course. Try not to worry about it okay?"

Takuya folded his arms. "Uh… easier said than done. I'm connected to that thing."

"Look Takky, you really need to relax. I've been toying with a lot of high tech stuff since I've been in school." JP told Takuya, returning to his work on the D-Tector. "This thing shouldn't be anymore difficult."

The gogglehead sighed and sat down in his seat, deciding to let JP do his thing. "Alright buddy. I trust you."

Tommy patted Takuya on the back. "Don't worry about it Takuya. JP's got this in the bag. He'll be able to make that thing work in no time. Just you watch."

JP smiled at his youngest friend and proceeded to work back on Takuya's D-Tector. "Thanks for the vote of confidence little buddy."

"I still want to know what all this means. These things happen for a reason..." Kouji muttered loud enough for the others to hear.

Kouichi smile, prodding his younger brother in the side, "You need to lighten up bro, you're too serious!"

Kouji glowered at his elder brother. "Kouichi. Stop."

"Stop what?" Kouichi asked as he prodded the boy more, earning a dangerous scowl from him.

"You're making Kouji angry, Kouichi." Zoe commented, backing away from the younger twin.

"It's too easy, isn't it Kou?" Takuya commented, knowing he would set the younger twin off.

"That's it Kanbara!" Kouji tore from Kouichi's prodding and tackled Takuya, intent on choking him or tickling him until he surrendered

Takuya yelped, realizing his mistake and begged for mercy from the bandana wearing teen. "Kouji! Wait…! Stop!"

The others just watched as the younger twin relentlessly tortured the idiot, his hands wrapped around the other's neck. They knew better than to go around calling Takuya by that nickname. Only Takuya was dumb enough to try, Kouichi would try as well when he felt lucky enough.

Takuya continually begged for his freedom from his tormentor. "I'm sorry! S-stop! Please! Kouichi! Help! He's your brother!"

"You kinda dug your own grave there Takuya." Kouichi answered, not wanting to get caught in his brother's rage.

"That is not helping me here!" Takuya managed to bark out.

Kouji sat on top of Takuya's chest, arms crossed. "You are. SO lucky. I value our friendship enough to NOT murder you and pay them off."

"You watch too many crime dramas with Kouichi..." Takuya muttered.

"What did you say?" Kouji asked sharply, tone threatening.

"Nothing! Nothing I swear!"

Zoe rolled her eyes, "any luck JP?"

"Well, I think I'm getting somewhere." JP answered, still tinkering with the device. "It's a little difficult to figure out. It's nothing like I've worked with before but hey, it's not gonna stop me."

Tommy looked over JP's shoulder, seeing that the device was opened up showing the glowing circuits. Of course, he had seen the inside of the D-Tector before when Datamon had opened it up himself when he had them in his possession.

"Uh… you sure it's okay to open it up like that?" Tommy asked, remembering how frightening it was to see Datamon screw around with their D-Tectors.

"Opened up?!" Takuya asked, not liking the sound of that. "You opened it up?!"

JP waved Takuya off. "Easy Takky, I've got this under control." He answered, examining the device closely. He continued to toy with the device when he saw the screen come to life slightly, giving off brief static and showing a faint symbol on the screen. "Hey! I'm getting something here!"

The group gathered around JP and stared down at the small screen. The image was fuzzy with static so it was difficult to recognize the symbol.

"You did it JP!" Tommy grinned happily, proud of his friend's success with the device.

JP grinned, his ego boosting from his progress. "I told you guys I could do it. I'm the man."

"Wa- … war-..." A female voice echoed faintly through the static, garbled by the bad transmission

"Is that Ophanimon?" Takuya asked curiously

Zoe shushed him. "Be quiet!"

They crowded closer trying to understand the broken message. "-orld -ang- shado- war-"

"War? There's a war?!"

"Takuya be quiet!"

"enemies- -ther -fallen" The light from the screen dimmed and it powered down.

"Well that was an unhelpful message..." JP commented, crossing his arms.

Kouji shook his head, "Not at all. Something is happening and it's bad... "

"Did anyone pick up much from that message?" Takuya asked.

The others looked to each other, not sure they could make out much else from the message. What they could make out were the sounds that there was a great battle and that it did not end well for them.

"It really didn't sound like anything good at all." Tommy answered softly and looking down at the D-Tector.

"If the Digital World is in trouble… then… why only me? Sure I was a Digimon but… why am I the only one with a D-Tector?" Takuya asked himself.

JP shrugged and put the D-Tector back together before handing it to Takuya. "Maybe we can try contacting them again when I have better equipment to try and get a better signal."

"Right." Takuya nodded and moved to pocket the device when it started to vibrate. "What the…?"

He took out the black and red device. It seemed to be ringing, like a phone would- which would make sense since the D-Tector started out as a cell phone. He tentatively pressed a button, answering the call.

"Hello?"

His mother's voice bombarded him from the other line. "Takuya Kanbara you come home right now! I have been worried sick about you! I haven't seen you in days! -"

Takuya quickly covered the receiver, "heheh. Guess I better get home before my mom sends out search and rescue."

The others snickered lightly. "You'd better keep in touch," Zoe said with a smile.

"Yeah, and let us know if you turn into the orange furball again." JP added, grinning. Takuya didn't look too amused though.

"Let's try and meet at the park tomorrow- To do something fun this time!" the brunette suggested. They all agreed n a time, and parted ways. Takuya sprinted down the city blocks, not winded in the slightest upon arriving home.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys. Welcome back. Hope you all had a good Halloween. We got another chapter for you guys. This is the beginning of what we'd like to call section 2 so I hope you guys are ready to get this started. And now, onto the chapter.**

Chapter 8: All We Are

Takuya sighed and sat up in his bed. Morning shone brightly through the window. He yawned and looked to the clock at his bed side table. It was still relatively early in the morning but he couldn't really complain. He had gotten the nightmare again last night but he had gotten used to it. He had managed to put himself back to sleep after a while.

It was welcomed after being hounded by his parents for outright disappearing. He did his best to explain and come up with excuses and it had helped him, if only to an extent. He was just glad to be through with that.

Today was supposed to be a day of fun. He wasn't Flamon anymore. He was himself again. He grinned to himself. He was going to make up for the last three days.

The teenager made his way through his daily routine for the morning and made his way downstairs. "Takuya, where are you going?" his mother asked him from the kitchen as soon as he stepped in the kitchen.

"Uh..." Takuya stopped in his tracks, "to get breakfast?" he answered uncertainly.

She raised her eyebrows, "After that."

"Oh, I was going to go hang with my friends. If that's okay." Takuya added that last bit to try and make up for him unintentional disappearance over the last few days. It's not like he had any control over though.

His mother sighed, "Alright, but come home tonight. No more gallivanting across the city."

Takuya smiled, "Okay. Thanks mom!"

Takuya quickly ate his breakfast and thanked his mother before making a run outside. Today was going to be a day of fun even if it killed him. He ran all the way to the park, not even for a moment feeling winded. At this point he was used to it.

He was at the usual place by the tree in minutes. The gogglehead decided to enjoy the peace and quiet and laid down against the tree.

"Hey Taky!" JP called out, waving at his friend and walking side by side with Tommy.

"Hey there you guys! Glad you could make it!" Takuya sat up and smiled happily at the duo.

"How're you feeling?" Tommy asked, still concerned about Takuya's sudden transformation into a Digimon yesterday.

Takuya paused, besides the dream and the events leading up to his transformation, he actually felt really good. Better than he had in a long time. "I'm great Tommy!" he answered with a grin, "Never better."

"So that means I can have my revenge on the numerous times you woke me up over the last few days?" Kouji's voice said from behind. The younger twin was smiling in an evil manner. Kouichi stood beside him, grinning.

The gogglehead chuckled nervously, completely terrified of the evil smile Kouji was giving him. "H-hey, no need to get nasty… we're friends… good buddies."

Kouji snorted, amused with Takuya's reaction. "Takuya, you really take things too seriously."

Takuya growled at him. "Dude, that is so not funny!"

The twins began to snicker at Takuya's expense. "You really are way too easy to rattle."

"S-shut up!"

"Boys, seriously. Can we go one day without picking a fight?" Zoe asked, having arrived early enough to see the twins tease the gogglehead.

"But that's what we do Zoe! We fight!" Kouichi exclaimed brightly, punching Kouji in the shoulder lightly to prove his point. She just rolled her eyes.

"So what's the plan for today?" Zoe asked, trying to distract them.

Kouji looked at the ground, "It's a bit wet to play soccer or anything."

"And way too nice to be inside..." Tommy added, looking up at the clear blue sky.

"My school has a dirt practice field, maybe it's dry enough to play on." Takuya offered. The others shrugged and agreed, following Takuya. After a few blocks, they began to fall behind.

"Slow down Takuya!"

"Jeez this kid's way too fast…" JP muttered as he tried to keep up his pace. "Come on Taky! You're going way too fast!"

The gogglehead took a look back at them, seeing that they were far behind him and slowed down a little for them to keep up. "Hey you guys, am I seriously that fast?" he asked with humor in his voice.

"Shut up Kanbara." Kouji ordered, trying to catch his breath after finally catching up with the gogglehead.

This only made Takuya snicker. "You need to lighten up Kou." He added, deciding to press his luck since he seemed to be able to outrun them.

"Kanbara." Kouji's tone was low and menacing, so much so the others fell behind him. Kouji shot forward, aiming to tackle the brunette again. Takuya, expecting this, dodged to the side, evading Kouji with ease. The younger twin turned on a dime, grabbing at Takuya's shirt. Takuya jumped away, avoiding Kouji like a cat trying to catch an airborne bird. "Dammit, Hold still!"

Takuya stuck out his tongue, "Aww, Where's the fun in that?"

This went on for several minutes. Kouji was exhausted as Takuya remained just out of the boy's reach.  
The others exchanged curious glances. "I wonder if this is all from becoming a Digimon yesterday." JP wondered out loud.

"Whatever it is, it's impressive." Kouichi commented.

"What else do you think he can do?" Tommy asked curiously watching his friend continually avoid being captured.

Zoe shrugged and watched Takuya's impressive display. "That's a good question."

Takuya smirked proudly, pleased to have avoided getting beaten to a bloody pulp by his enraged friend. "You're getting way too slow buddy boy." He said with a grin and quickly made his way towards the group. "So, what're you guys talking about?"

"We were just wondering if there were anything else you could do." JP answered plainly.

The gogglehead looked confused. "What else I can do?"

"You're still full of energy despite running around in circles with Kouji chasing you for one," Zoe stated, "And Kouji usually catches you."

Takuya paused, looking thoughtful. "Okay, I see your point- so are you referring to …Yesterday?" he asked carefully, as they resumed their trek to Takuya's school.

JP nodded, "Well, it's likely linked. Maybe you're more Digimon than you realize."

Zoe nudged their eldest harshly in the side earning a yelp from the boy.

"Ow! Zoe! What was that for?!" JP griped, holding his side. He followed her gaze to Takuya and saw the look on his face. He had looked a little upset about it. "Oh… uh…"

Takuya shook his head dismissively. "Forget it." He tried at a smile. "I can't really complain. At least I'm still me. Human me."

"It's not like you're going to turn into that Digimon again, right?" Kouichi said with a smile, trying to make Takuya feel better.

"I guess not." he replied slowly, though he felt differently. What if he did become that thing again? What if it was in public or in front of his family? Someone snapped their fingers in front of his face, jerking him out of his thoughts.

Kouji waved his hand in front of the boy's face, "Earth to Takuya. You alright?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… yeah. I'm fine." Takuya answered after collecting himself really quick. "Just uh… thinking about something."

"About what?" Tommy decided to pry.

The gogglehead was about to speak but decided against it and ruffled his friend's hair. "Ah nothing important. Come on, today's supposed to be a day for fun you know. The day is still early, the sun is shining, let's not waste it on this stuff." And with that he continued on his way to the soccer field.

"Takuya..." Zoe started, still standing where they had been. The others hung back with her. They hadn't bought a word he just said. They knew him too well and with everything happening to him lately, they weren't about to take chances.

Kouji approached the boy slowly. "Come on Takuya, something is bothering you."

"We're here for you. Always!" Kouichi added, coming up beside his brother.

Takuya sighed and laced his fingers together behind his neck. "Look, I appreciate you guys are concerned but after everything that's happened these last few days, I just want to have some fun. To just put this behind me… at least for a little while. I'd like things to go back to the way they were. You know?"

The others looked at him, seeming to understand what he meant. After spending these three days worrying and stressing out over every change that's happened, he deserved a break from it.

"I want us to enjoy ourselves before we go back to school. I don't want to waste this precious time with you guys on the crap that's going on." Takuya added with a sigh.

"Alright Takuya- But you better promise to tell us immediately if you need someone to talk to. Understand?" Zoe told him, smiling softly.

"Promise." he replied. The rest of the group smiled, feeling a bit better. They continued on their way to the school finding the field deserted, just as Takuya hoped. He jogged over to the storage shed, using his student ID to unlock the door with the card reader the school had installed to keep better track of the equipment. He found a soccer ball quickly and exited the shed with the ball in his hands.

"Let's play!"

The group had played soccer for a good while; though everyone except for Takuya were getting tired. The gogglehead didn't even seem winded, even after giving his friends the advantage of five against one as the game progressed.

Takuya grinned triumphantly dribbling the ball by his feet. "Come on guys. You can't be that tired."

"Easy for you to say… you're not the one on your butt completely out of breath." JP said breathing heavily and sweating buckets.

The gogglehead shrugged. "I'm just that good."

"Hey Takuya, about earlier…" Tommy started to ask though was hesitant about continuing. He was going to ask about Takuya's abilities but wasn't sure about how to go with it.

Zoe seemed to catch the youngest boy's thought, "Yeah- Since YOU'RE not tired, why don't you see what else you can do?"

Takuya looked at the blond quizzically, then realized what she meant. In truth, he wasn't sure he wanted to know, but at the same time, he probably should have an idea of what his body was capable of. "I dunno guys... "

"Pretty please?" Zoe added, clasping her hands together and pleading with the boy.

Though he would never admit it, the way she was pleading to him made her look really cute to him. He turned his head away from her to stop himself from staring and to hide the blush that was slowly forming on his face. "But… um…" He scratched the back of his neck nervously as she continued to plead.

"Come on Takuya…" Zoe asked, knowing that she was getting to him.

The gogglehead whined loudly. "Awww fine! Just… please, stop with the look! It's killing me!"

Tommy and Zoe cheered, giving each other a high five for finally being able to convince their friend to agreeing to trying to figure out his abilities.

JP, Kouji, and Kouichi snickered to themselves. Kouichi grinned, "Resistance to women is not on that list."

Takuya rolled his eyes and ignored them, "So, what should I try to do?"

"Try jumping again. Like when you jumped over that car," Kouji suggested, recalling Takuya's straight shot up into the air.

"Jumping in the air?" Takuya looked to his feet and then back up at the sky. "I can do that I think." The boy got in a low crouching position, preparing himself to jump as high he can. He took a deep breath and jumped up as high as he could.

The others watched in awe as the gogglehead had jumped over ten feet in the air. "Oh! Wow! He's actually doing it!" Tommy exclaimed in awe.

The gogglehead looked down at the group and gulped at how high he was in the air before he came plummeting down to the ground. "Incoming!"

He crashed to the ground, landing ungracefully. Takuya sprang to his feet, perfectly okay, despite the crash landing.

"That was incredible!" Zoe said in awe, taking his hands in hers.

He blushed, "uh, Zoe, let go?"

"Sorry." she let go of his hands.

"So what else can you do?" Tommy asked excitedly.

"Are you any stronger than usual Takuya?" JP asked, curiously. "Or maybe you can shoot fireballs?"

Takuya shrugged and looked at his hands. How to make fire appear. How did he do it in the first place? It just happened on its own to protect him. And whenever he was Agunimon or BurningGreymon or any other of his evolutions it just came naturally.

"How to make it happen…" Takuya muttered to himself. Was it just will? He wasn't sure. It'd be a good start. 'Fire. Fire. Fire… FIRE.' Soon, sparks and small flames were forming around his hands.

The others watched in awe as sparks ignited around his hands before giving birth to small flames but they didn't grow to anything larger than a match light's flame.

Their awe quickly faded. "Is that it?" Kouji asked, staring at the little flickering ember, "Because that is a sorry excuse for a flame."

Takuya glared at him. "It was bigger before!"

"Settle down you two." Zoe chided, "see if you can make it grow Takuya."

Takuya nodded but shot a quick glare at Kouji before going back to concentrating on his flames. He'd show him. Takuya wasn't going to forget that comment about his flames. 'Okay… bigger. Brighter. Grow.'

Ever so slightly, the flames in Takuya's hands grew larger, burning brightly. The gogglehead pushed himself further, having the flames burn even brighter. "Come on…"

JP watched the flames grow and swallow up his hands. "Whoa…"

"And that doesn't hurt?" Kouichi asked, astounded.

Takuya shook his head, "Not in the slightest. It's just warm- Like when I was Agunimon. I can feel the warmth but it doesn't harm me."

"Amazing..." Zoe breathed, watching the flames dance in Takuya's hands.

Kouji found a sizable clod of dirt at his feet. He picked it up, glancing at Takuya. "Think fast!" He lobbed the clod of earth into the air over Takuya's head.

The gogglehead looked up at the clod of earth and immediately realized what Kouji intended. He aimed his hands at the clod and fired a small fireball at the clod, hitting it dead on. "Oh yeah! Look at that, am I hot stuff or what?!"

"Lucky shot." Kouji dismissed and looked around the field for more clods of dirt. He motioned for the others to pick up clods to throw in the air with him. "Let's see how you handle multiple targets." Takuya yelped suddenly and started shooting down the clods as best he could. He had missed a few but managed to hit most of the clods.

Within minutes, they finished with most of the clods burnt to an ash.

"Okay, so you can jump high, run on limitless energy, and shoot fire from your hands. That's pretty cool." JP commented, admiring the ash fluttering to the ground around them.

Tommy went up to Takuya, smiling widely. "Do you think you can become that Digimon again Takuya? It was really cool looking!"

"Ah, well... I don't know Tommy..." Takuya rubbed the back of his neck after he extinguished the flames. He honestly didn't want to ever be Flamon again. Not ever, if he could help it. He looked down at Tommy's eager face, finding it hard to refuse the boy. "Alright, I'll try..." He dug his D-Tector from his pocket, the screen still dark as ever since it conveyed the garbled yet ominous message.

Takuya took a deep breath and looked down at the D-Tector's screen. Might as well try and get it over with. The gogglehead remembered the procedure for evolution and hesitantly got to work on evolving into his new form.

The D-Tector reacted and emitted a bright light from its screen before swallowing the gogglehead and blinding the group.

Takuya clenched up as the evolution continued, transforming his body. It hurt just like before but Takuya expected this and pushed the transformation, knowing that his friends would continue to persist in seeing if he could change into that form.

The light finally faded and Takuya was in his Digimon form though he looked exhausted and still recovering from the initial jolt of pain from his evolution.

"Are you okay Takuya?" Zoe asked, noticing his pained expression.

He looked himself over, not really hearing her concerned question. He noticed his senses were significantly sharper than a moment ago. So much so, it was sensory overload. Everything looked new and smelled different. It was like he had been dropped into a world of prefect clarity. How had he missed this revelation the first time?

"Takuya?"

He snapped back to reality upon hearing his friends' voices again. "S-sorry." Even his friends felt new to him. The experience felt strange yet he felt comfortable.

The others exchanged curious glances but said nothing. "How do you feel now?" Kouji asked after a moment.

"Sorry… it's just… um… well…" Takuya took a good look at his surroundings, helping himself to adjust. "…different. Everything… everything feels different…"

"Different? What do you mean?" JP asked. "What's different?"

The newly evolved Digimon sighed and ran his fingers through his wild mane. "Everything seems so… clear. Like… I don't know how to describe it… it's like I had a paper bag over my head and now it's suddenly lifted off. I see everything; smell everything; feel everything so much clearer now. It was too much at first."

"Wow…" Tommy uttered in complete and total awe. "That's amazing…"

"Kind of..." He replied, looking around. He still felt distracted by everything. He found it really hard to pay attention to anything for more that a few moments.

"Takuya?" Zoe waved her hand in front his face, trying to get him to focus.

He blinked, "Huh? Hi Zoe."

"Dude, you were spacing out again." JP said.

"I'm sorry… everything's just… really distracting… I can't help it…" Takuya replied trying to focus on his friends. "This way of seeing everything… it's a lot to try and take in at once."

"Are you going to be okay?" Kouichi asked noticing that Takuya was doing his best not to get distracted and drift off.

Takuya nodded slowly. "Yeah… I'm okay. Just, give me a moment. I just need to get used to all of this."

The others watched Takuya carefully as he tried to get adjusted to everything around him.

He shook his head wildly, forcing the external distractions away. "Okay, I'm good. I'm good."

"Welcome back fuzzball," Kouji said, smirking.

Takuya paused, looking at Kouji incredulously. "Fuzzball?"

"Payback for calling me Kou."

The Digimon scowled but shook it off. "Okay, So I'm a Digimon again, Now what?"

"Well, why don't we see what you can do in that form? See if it's any better than what you can do when you're human." JP answered. "You know, if you can jump higher, run faster, do any of those cool gymnastic moves, better control over your fire…"

Takuya rolled his eyes. "Why don't you have me play fetch and jump through hoops?"

"It was just an idea…" JP replied defensively. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Takuya sighed and patted JP on the back. "Hey, I'm sorry. I was just playing around. Look, I'll give that stuff a shot." With that Takuya got some space from the group and jumped high into the air, higher than before and tried a few flips while he was in the air for good measure.

"Show off." Kouji muttered while the Digimon came down to the ground again.

He grinned, tumbling like a gymnast. "Jealous"

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Do more, do more!" Tommy exclaimed excitably. Takuya smiled a bit, trying to think of something else to do.

He summoned a fireball to his hand, much larger than the one he produced in his human form. The flames licked around his fingers. It was a soothing feeling. He launched a fireball into the air, watching it dissipate into nothingness.

Everyone watched Takuya in awe as he continued with the pyrotechnics; fireballs swirling around in the air, creating a hoop of fire and leaping through it and creating a wave of flames in the air with a sweeping kick.

"Wow… that's really cool…" Tommy spoke softly, in awe as if watching festive fireworks.

Kouichi nodded in agreement then commented. "It's a good thing there aren't anyone around to see this."

Takuya landed on the ground with a smile, actually working up a sweat from the use of his flames. "You guys enjoying the show?"

"That was spectacular Takuya!" Zoe said grinning brightly. The boys looked equally impressed by his display.

The Digimon sat on the ground, panting slightly. His eyes shimmered with glee. He just felt so good right now. He was on top of the world and nothing could drag him down.

Tommy grinned, "Your new Digimon form is so cool Takuya!"

Takuya couldn't help but smile. He had despised this form with a burning passion. He had started to think differently now. It wasn't bad at all. He feel so free, so alive. It was a gift. Takuya took a deep breath and decided to de-evolve back to his human form. The process seemed a lot easier for him now. He was able to do it by will. With the blink of an eye Takuya was able to change himself back to his human form.

The others made their way over to their exhausted friend. "That was amazing Takuya." Zoe commented gleefully to the boy. "The way you commanded those flames was like magic."

The gogglehead grinned at them. "Well, I am the Warrior of Flame after all."

"You definitely look like you're having a better time in this form than you were before." Kouji stated, having seen the pure bliss shown on his face.

Takuya grinned, "I was. That was a lot of fun!"

"It looked like it," Kouichi commented, "You're a natural."

"And now we know how to tire you out," Kouji added with a smirk. They all laughed as Zoe pulled Takuya to his feet.

The day progressed in good favor as the hours passed by with Takuya's mood taking a turn for the best as he finally grew to accept his new abilities. He had spent the whole day showing off to his friends and relieving all the stress and anger he had built up with each flame he created.

The hour became late and eventually the group of friends each went their separate ways excited for what the next get together would bring.

There was no incident with Takuya's family this day since Takuya hadn't done anything to warrant a lecture or scolding from his parents. He was careful not to get on their bad side after what had happened at the beginning of the weekend. He made sure to be on his best behavior.

The nightmare still came however; still plaguing the boy's nights and forbidding a peaceful night's sleep but he did not let that get to him. It was just a small price to pay only once a night. He could live with it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys. We're back with another chapter for you. I really hope you enjoy this cuz I know we had a lot of fun writing it. Also hope to hear from you guys and see what your take on this is so be sure to leave a review, okay? With that said, let's get on with the show shall we?**

Chapter 9: Unwell

The following morning Takuya rose early and jumped out of bed, keen on meeting up with his friends at the park. Today would lack Zoe and Tommy's company because they had other plans with their families. JP, Kouichi and Kouji still planned to meet up and enjoy each other's company.

Takuya slipped out of the house without an full blown interrogation from his mother, and made his way towards his school. The guys had planned to set up an elaborate obstacle course for Takuya to attempt and challenge his abilities further.

Surprisingly, Kouichi and JP were already there, grinning up a storm. Takuya could tell they were up to something. "Hey guys."

Kouichi and JP looked to each other, their grins growing wider. They looked like they were doing their best to hold in laughter. Takuya approached them cautiously, unaware of what they could possibly have up their sleeves.

"Hey there Takky. Glad you could make it." JP replied waving a hand at the gogglehead. "You ready to see what you can do?"

"Um… yeah. I'm ready." Takuya answered, watching the two closely. "So, what do we have planned to test my abilities?"

Kouichi patted the gogglehead on the back, his grin never leaving his face. "Oh you'll see." He answered cheerfully though the smile did not make Takuya feel any less suspicious of the two.

JP grinned, "We're going to test your senses out first. See how sharp they are."

"Alright, What's first?" Takuya asked, dropping his guard a bit. They were up to the usual hijinks as far as he was concerned.

"Well, evolve into Flamon and we'll get to it!" Kouichi said with a giddy laugh. Yup. Hijinks.

Takuya rolled his eyes and became the small flame Digimon. He gave himself a moment to adjust, taking in his surroundings. A strange scent got his attention. It was mystical and alluring. It made him feel relaxed. JP and Kouichi exchanged a grin seeing Takuya's dazed expression.

"W-what is that…?" Takuya asked dreamily, finding it hard to stay on his feet. Whatever he was smelling, it made him feel like he could just melt away in pure bliss.

JP found it hard not to burst out laughing as Kouichi pulled out a small bag from his pocket and dangled it between his fingers. "You know what this is Takuya?"

The Digimon shook his head slowly, still somewhat lost in his daze. He nearly fell flat on the floor when the older twin opened the bag, allowing for the scent to blow strongly in the air.

Kouichi laughed and wiped the tears forming from his eyes. This was absolutely hilarious.

Takuya pounced on the boy, determined to snatch the bag of whatever the sweet scented stuff was from him. The contents- dried, and crushed green leaves- spilled out of the bag as it fell from Kouichi's hand. Takuya lost all interest in the elder twin and instead began to attack the bag like a kitten.

He swatted it around, rolling around in the dried catnip leaves scattered on the ground. JP and Kouichi couldn't contain their laughter. Takuya was acting like an overgrown kitten.

"Do I even want to know?" Kouji asked, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. He surveyed the scene, deducing Kouichi and JP had something to do with Takuya's antics from their laughs.

"C-cat…catnip." JP tried to explain through his laughter, having long since fallen to the floor and holding his sides. "Oh god… this too much… I-I'm gonna… bust a gut!"

"Kouji… quick! You- you have to film this! This is gold!" Kouichi pleaded, still laughing at the poor drug induced Digimon.

Kouji pinched the bridge of his nose at their antics. Such stupidity. Sure the catnip was pretty harmless but they pretty much just drugged their friend. "I can't believe you two."

Takuya was in his own world, purring loudly and rolling around on the ground. He was completely out of it.

"Hey, Takuya. Hey!" Kouji knelt beside the flame wielding Digimon, trying to snap him out of his catnip induced stupor. He tried snapping his fingers, shaking him lightly, and trying to drag Takuya away from the green leaves.

It only succeeded in getting Kouji covered in the catnip and Takuya rubbing up against him like a cat, purring up a storm. "Takuya! Get off! Guys!" JP and Kouichi were beyond helping Kouji pry Takuya off. They had fallen to their knees, roaring with laughter.

"If Takuya doesn't kill you when he snaps out of this, I will!"

It took a good long while before any of them could settle down. Kouichi and JP were heaving, trying to recover from their insane laughter, and Takuya to come to his senses as soon as the catnip's effects wore off.

Takuya moaned and held his head. He didn't remember much of what had happened. He took in his surroundings and saw all three of his friends red in the face; two of them obviously from laughing and Kouji from having his limits pushed from their stupidity.

"What the hell happened?" Takuya asked and shook himself, getting all the grass and dried leaves out of his hair and clothes.

Kouji snorted, still glaring at his brother and JP. "Those two geniuses decided to see if you are affected by catnip- which by the way, is extremely," he explained bluntly.

Takuya looked at them, feeling hurt and shocked. "You guys drugged me?!"

"It was only a little." Kouichi tried to explain, "We weren't even sure you'd react to it."

Kouji swatted his brother, "It was idiotic and mean."

The two looked ashamed of themselves after being called out they way they were. They looked at Takuya to see the reaction on his face. If looks could kill they'd be dead twenty times over. "We're sorry." The duo said simultaneously, keeping their gaze low.

It took Takuya a moment to finally respond; his hands lit ablaze with a great burning fury as he glared at the two. "If you two EVER do that again I will cremate the both of you."

"We're really sorry Takuya. Really, really sorry." JP replied fearfully upon hearing Takuya's threat.

Something told him otherwise. They weren't sorry, they were afraid of his threats. He felt betrayed. He felt angry. They took advantage of them.

Kouji got between them. "Alright, cool it!" He was protecting them. Traitor.

Takuya glared at them all before turning on his heel and jumping up into the nearest tree and taking off. He went to the school's roof, because they wouldn't be able to reach him. He slumped against a wall, trying to get a handle on his emotions.

They weren't intentionally trying to use his Digimon form against him, right? But then they wouldn't have brought the stuff in the first place though...

They took advantage of his situation. They were having fun at his expense. They thought it would be funny. All of these things rang true in his mind. They drugged him to see what would happen and to get a few laughs out of it. Friends don't do that to each other.

…but it was just innocent fun right? That was what they intended, right? Part of him really wanted to believe that so it wouldn't appear so bad but it wasn't so innocent, not in his mind.

Takuya breathed a large plume of flames into the sky to vent out his aggression but it did little for him. No matter how powerful a flame he created, it wouldn't drain away any of his anger or his feelings of betrayal.

He curled up after a while letting his anger fade to sadness. He felt alone. His friends... he trusted them and they let him down. They used him...

Kouji meanwhile chewed Kouichi and JP out. He shouted and scolded, making them feel guilty for using the catnip on Takuya. What's worse though, he called Zoe and put her on speaker. Her rants scared them. She threatened to castrate them- Kouji offering to help- for pulling a prank on Takuya who was still trying to overcome his fear of being half-Digimon.

"When I get my hands on you two you are going to wish you weren't born! Now you go find him and apologize profusely!" She demanded, hell's fury evident in her voice.

Kouji stood over them, his tone more dangerous than Zoe's. "And you better grovel, or he'll incinerate you both."

Kouichi and JP nodded numbly, both deciding to stay quiet and to obey the orders given to them. They admitted what they had done was cruel and heinous. The two felt lower than dirt for their actions especially after the two were lectured by their enraged friends.

Once the call had ended, the trio made their way into the school, knowing that Takuya had landed on the rooftop. They would have to tread carefully unless they invoke the full fury of the Digimon.

Kouji watched the two carefully, not letting the two out of his sight for a moment. He was completely livid. He would make sure that they never forget what happened.

The trio had found their way inside and had found the stairs. They would make their way up to the rooftop somehow and Kouichi and JP would grovel for forgiveness.

"Are all these stupid doors locked?" Kouji asked to no one in particular, growling to himself. They were limited to the ground level of the building. All the stairwell doors had been locked for the holiday, so that meant no roof access.

Kouichi and JP searched for a way to open the locked doors or find someway to the roof; else they had to face Kouji's wraith. And given their predicament, the latter was something no one wanted to face.

"Do you guys have a hair wire or paperclip? Maybe I can pick the lock!"

Kouji raised an eyebrow, "It's a card swipe lock."

"How are we supposed to get up to the roof then?" JP asked looking the locked door over to find a way to open it. He was scared facing Kouji's wrath but there was no way currently to find a way upstairs to the roof. "We can't bust our way up there. We could get in a whole lot of trouble."

Kouji growled. He was already on his last nerve with everything that's happened these last few hours, anything else and he would unleash his full fury.

There had to be a way up to the roof that didn't involve breaking in and possibly getting arrested by the police.

"Hold on, let me try to hack it- This system looks a lot older than the one at my school- and I helped program it!" JP pulled out a small laptop from his backpack. He then fished out a cable, and plugged one end into the computer and the other into the card reader. After fiddling with it for a few minutes the reader beeped and the light turned green.

Kouji smiled a bit, "If I weren't so mad at you, I might have been impressed."

JP took it as a compliment and stowed his computer in his bag. They proceeded to the second floor, which thankfully wasn't locked. "Which way to roof access from here?"

The others shrugged. They weren't entirely sure of where to go from there. They weren't familiar with Takuya's school building. The group would have to search the floor for a way to access the roof. At the least they were one step closer to finding Takuya and attempting to make everything right with him.

Takuya paid no attention to any of the noises they were making. He wanted to be away from them; to just be alone. He wanted the time to come to terms with things by himself. The Digimon sighed and looked up at the sky seeing that it was still somewhere around late morning. He had plenty of time to keep to himself.

Something felt off to him suddenly. He could feel another presence; several of them. He looked around for where the presence was felt. Takuya knew there was something there; something that meant him harm; something dangerous.

"Who's there?" Takuya called out, getting back to his feet.

Something snickered. "Aww lookie boys, he's just a youn'in," a voice mocked.

"The boss will sure get a laugh out of this!" another jeered.

A third cackled, "This is just too easy!"

Takuya growled to himself, "Show yourselves you cowards!" He couldn't pinpoint where they were, or what they were. He could sense their presence.

"Looks like we made him mad!" one of the snickered to the other two voices.

Takuya continued to growl, his tone growing even more vicious. "I said show yourselves!" he barked out as flames formed furiously on his hands.

"Uh oh. Looks like he's really steaming!" one of the voices taunted.

Takuya followed the taunting voices and finally managed to pinpoint one, throwing one of his fireballs in that direction in order to spook the annoying voices. "Take that!"

There was a yelp but no cries of pain. "Hey! He almost hit me!"

"Serves ya right!" one teased as the other snickered. They may have been allies but they showed no

sense of friendship towards each other.

"Will you two ninnies cut it out? We have a job ta do!" the first one barked, "Else the boss will have our heads!"

Takuya's tail lashed angrily as he summoned more fireballs. "Come out here and fight!"

"If you want to fight then be our guest! Evil Whisper!"

Takuya leapt in the air feeling that staying in one place would be a bad idea once he heard the call of the creature's attack. Upon being higher up in the air he was able to glance down and spot his attackers.

There were three of them. They were like balls of dark ragged fur with short clawed feet and wearing blue masks with long bat wings. Each of them had sinister smiles on their faces, but two of them were wielding weapons in their claws; syringes filled with an unknown substance.

They were Digimon. Takuya couldn't believe that actual Digimon were able to enter the Human world but here they were and they were attacking him.

The two Digimon with the syringes launched themselves at Takuya, aiming to inject him with their deadly poison. "Demi Dart!"

Takuya came falling down at them, his fists ablaze and swerved out of the range of their needles but failing to connect with his own attack.

The roof door opened with a bang, Kouji herding JP and Kouichi out into the open. Takuya landed before them, fire engulfing his fists, "Noble Heart!" He rushed at the DemiDevimon, aiming to knock them from the air.

"Takuya!?"

The sound of his friends' voices threw him off guard, making him stop his attack. "Guys?!" One of the DemiDevimon took the opportunity and dive bombed Takuya, slamming into his back. Takuya crashed to the ground at his friends' feet. "Get out of here!"

"Demi Dart!" one of the DemiDevimon took advantage of Takuya's vulnerable position and charged in at him with his syringe.

Takuya saw the attack coming at the last minute and rolled out of the way so the syringe lodged itself into the floor. He then took the opportunity to grab the enemy Digimon by one of its wings and slam it face down into the floor next to him before getting up.

The humans watching the fight stepped back to keep their distance as the fight continued on as to not get in the way though Kouji scanned the area around him for a weapon to help his friend, to even the odds. If he could use a long pipe to take down a whole herd of Pagumon then he could help handle these small fry.

"Aim for the humans! They're not as resistant to the toxin!" The lead DemiDevimon ordered. Takuya paled, he wasn't sure he could protect them and himself from these three. He snarled at the DemiDevimon, launching a volley of mini fireballs. The little bat-ball Digimon yelped, fluttering about to avoid the flames.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" One of them hadn't been so lucky, and was panicking, body ablaze.

The remaining two, set their sights on Kouji, Kouichi, and JP, darts aimed at the humans.

"Oh man! I don't like the look of those needles!" JP whined as the two evil Digimon snickered to each other before diving down at them.

The two DemiDevimon aimed carefully and threw their darts at the children with great speed and aim, intending to take down Kouji and Kouichi seeing how they seemed to be the difficult ones of the three.

Takuya ran to defend his friends, his armored hands raised to block the incoming needles. He had managed to deflect one of them with ease, letting it shatter harmlessly to the side, but the other he wasn't fortunate enough to block. Instead it had lodged itself into his exposed shoulder, the one he used to knock aside the first needle.

He cried out in pain as the toxin surged into his body, emptying the syringe. Takuya tore the syringe from his shoulder and tried to ignore the searing pain he felt. He still needed to defeat these Digimon before they could cause any harm to anyone else.

His vision blurred as he struggled to stay upright. "N-Noble H-Heart!" His fists ignited with white hot flames. He punched the DemiDevimon with as much force as he could muster, destroying them both on contact. The third, the one that had been slammed into the ground, fluttered away in fright.

Takuya collapsed, head pounding and heart racing. He felt like he was going to be sick as his stomach churned. He could hardly see, the world becoming nothing more than blurred shapes and shadows. Kouichi, Kouji, and JP knelt beside him, trying to help them. Their voices sounded incoherent and distant.

"Something's wrong-"

"It was filled with a toxin!"

"Stop it! We need to help Takuya!"

Takuya fought to keep his consciousness but it was a losing battle. His friends voices were completely muted out and his vision had grown completely black when he finally slipped into an unconscious state.

"Oh man… this isn't good." Kouichi muttered after examining Takuya closely. His friend was slick with sweat and shivering. The spot on his arm where he was injected had turned a purplish color and swelled like being stung by a bee, though much larger.

"What're we going to do?" JP asked in a panic.

The eldest twin ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he tried to form an idea. "Okay… we need to get him back to my place. I have some stuff there that might be able to help us."

Kouji nodded slowly seeing that there was no better idea at the moment. He then took a look at the syringe that stuck in the floor. It was left there after the DemiDevimon was incapacitated by Takuya's attack. "Will that help?"

"It could, bring it." Kouichi helped JP lift Takuya into the eldest boy's arms. Takuya's skin was clammy, but his forehead was very warm. 'A fever? Already? This is really bad.'

The trio rushed Takuya to Kouichi's house, which was fortunately not too far from Takuya's school in the next district over. "Mom?" Kouichi called out, receiving no answer, "Good she's not home yet. Lay him down on my bed- so Mom doesn't see him and panic."

JP nodded and laid the shivering boy on Kouichi's bed. He squirmed, faced scrunched up in pain. "Why didn't he change back?" Kouji wondered aloud.

"Well… I'm not sure." Kouichi answered after a while, still trying to assess from everything. "It might have something to do with… the toxin maybe? Like it's his best way to fight whatever's in his body?"

"Those Digimon did say that humans were less resistant to whatever that crap is." JP stated. Kouji looked back at Takuya. He was not looking good at all. "What can we do to help him?"

"Whatever this is, he's already showing signs of a really bad fever." Kouichi stated. He was trying to think of what he could possibly do to help Takuya recover. "I'm going to turn on the computer. Check the internet for anything about toxins or poison. See how that can be treated. Maybe that can get us somewhere."

"And in the meantime?" Kouji pressed. Takuya looked worse for wear.

Kouichi looked thoughtful, "Get the first aid kit from the kitchen- that's the big red and white box on the top of the refrigerator- and treat the injection site."

JP nodded, heading into the kitchen to retrieve the box while Kouji hovered over Takuya worriedly. Kouichi set to work researching toxins, their symptoms and how to treat them. JP returned with the first aid kit. He and Kouji cracked it open and pulled out the stuff to clean and treat the puncture wound.

Kouji quickly proceeded to clean the puncture wound while JP was looking through the first aid kit to see what else they had at their disposal. It wasn't much but it was something. The puncture wound was cleaned but the site was still swollen and the purplish hue in his skin had spread over his arm.

"Kouichi, please tell me you found something. This is looking really bad." Kouji said and looked over to Kouichi to see how he was doing with his research.

The older twin shrugged. "I don't know yet Kouji. There's a lot of information to go through."

"Well hurry up!" Kouji half snapped. Takuya moaned weakly. His skin had become very pale and he was burning up at an alarming rate.

Kouichi turned, surveying the boy for a minute. "Layer a few blankets over him and give him an aspirin to try to break his fever."

They layered a few blankets over Takuya, hoping to warm the boy up from the inside. "How are we supposed to give him a pill?" JP asked, "He's unconscious!"

Kouji rolled his eyes and shook Takuya's shoulder gently, "Hey- I know you're hurting but you need to wake up..."

Takuya moaned painfully as his friend tried to wake him up. He couldn't open his eyes. He was weak and he was in a lot of pain.

"Come on Takuya… I need you to take this…" Kouji told, careful not to cause Takuya any more pain as he tried giving him the pill. He was relieved to see that his friend was able to swallow the pill. Takuya didn't stay awake for long though.

JP helped Takuya back down on the bed. "He's out again. You sure the aspirin's going to help him?"

"It should. It should have the same effect regardless of what form he's in." Kouichi answered and surveyed Takuya's appearance. "At least I hope so."

Kouji restrained himself from slapping Kouichi, "I love how're you just guessing with our friend's life."

"Hey, I'm trying with what I've got- Same as you, so unless you want to involve Mom or something, let me make my educated guesses!" Kouichi shot back heatedly. Kouji backed down, knowing his brother was doing his best and his anxiety was showing. Kouichi never snapped back.

"Cool it both of you! We can't fight now." JP said, taking command, "Takuya's really sick and you two bickering isn't helping."

The twins looked mildly ashamed, but said nothing, returning to their tasks. Then, the front door opened, leaving the three boys frozen in place. "Kouichi? Are you home yet?" his mother's voice sang from the entryway.

"Crap…! What're we going to do?! We can't let Mom see this! She'll freak out!" Kouichi whispered loudly, clearly not expecting his mother home so suddenly.

The trio looked to each other and tried formulating a plan.

"Kouichi?" His mother called out again.

"We have to tell Mom we're here. We can't just hide up in your room all day… especially if Takuya makes a ruckus. She'll come to check what's going on." Kouji explained.

"Then just go and tell her you have some friends over." JP replied.

Kouichi snorted, "I'm so bad at lying! She'll figure me out in a heartbeat... It might sound crazy, but Mom could really help us here. We don't have a clue what we're doing..."

"Even so- how do we explain Takuya?" Kouji countered, "She'll freak!"

"Maybe not... Mom's pretty understanding..."

Kouji raised an eyebrow, "I'm not sure I like this idea..."

"What else can we do?" JP asked, "I mean, Kouichi's right. We don't have a clue how to help Takuya..."

"Kouichi? Are you home?" the twins' mother called out once again.

The trio looked to each other still trying to figure out their course of action. Kouichi sighed and gave in. "We have to tell Mom. We could use her help and… if Takuya's staying here… she'll find out eventually."

"Your mom's a nurse or works in the medical field, right?" JP asked and got a nod from his friends. "Then she should know about how to deal with poison."

Kouji sighed and reluctantly nodded. "Alright. Let's bring her up. I just hope she doesn't freak out."

"Mom?" Kouichi left his room and went to fetch his mother.

JP and Kouji waited in the bedroom, holding their breath. Takuya really needed Ms. Kimura's help to survive.

"Alright Kouichi, let me see already!" Tomoko exclaimed, they were right outside the door. Kouichi took a deep breath and lead her into the room. She glanced around, smiling briefly at JP and Kouji. Then her gaze fell upon Takuya. She gasped, "My gods..."

"Please don't freak out," Kouji said softly.

"K-Kouichi…? What is that?" Tomoko asked, taken back by Takuya for a moment. She stepped a little closer and got a good look at Takuya. She pulled back the sheets and gasped upon seeing the purple lump on his arm. "What happened to him? What is that thing on his shoulder?"

"H-he's a friend. He got injected with some kind of poison…" Kouichi answered, waiting on pins and needles to see whether or not his mother will freak out.

Tomoko took this all in. She was startled by Takuya's appearance but she felt sorry for the poor boy. He looked gravely ill. Compassion swelled up inside her as she further examined the boy. "This is bad… he has a high fever… you said a poison?"

Kouji nodded and took the syringe from the desk. "It's… whatever is in this thing." He answered slowly.

She took the syringe from her youngest son examining the syringe. She looked back at Takuya, "The poor dear..."

The boys breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she was more concerned for his welfare than his looks. She knelt beside Takuya, checking his temperature.

"Can you help him?" Kouichi asked also looking at Takuya, "I don't know how to help him."

"I'll do my best Kouichi, but I need to know everything first."

"Well… we don't really know much. He was injected with that toxin." Kouichi answered, trying his best to give as much information as he could without giving Takuya away. "His arm swelled up pretty bad and turned purple… and he lost consciousness almost instantly."

"What else happened? Kouichi, I need to know everything." She asked with emphasis on everything.

JP scratched the back of his neck. "Well… we brought him here… cleaned the wound and gave him an aspirin to help with the fever."

"Is that everything?" Tomoko asked, feeling that they're hiding something crucial.

She gave them the look, "I know you're keeping something from me boys. I need to know everything about your friend if I'm going to help him."

Kouji looked to Kouichi and JP, "alright... Okay... this might be hard to believe... but... Mom, this is Takuya..."

Tomoko stared at her son, then looked to Kouichi and JP. They all looked incredibly serious. "How...?"

"It's just something he's able to do- he can be this creature or human." Kouichi explained quickly.

"But… how is he able to…" Tomoko just felt even more confused. "I don't understand."

Kouichi shook his head. "We don't know how this happened either. It just did…"

The mother bit her lip and looked down at the syringe. She had more questions but they didn't really seem relative at the moment. "Okay… I'll see what I can do to help him. Do his parents know he's here? Or what's happened?"

"No… but we can't tell them!" JP suddenly realized and looked pleadingly to the woman. "Please don't tell Mr. or Mrs. Kanbara about this. It'd be a really really bad idea."

"So they don't know about this... ability?" she asked carefully. The boys shook their heads. "I see. Alright then, I won't tell them." she said with a sigh.

Takuya shifted in his sleep, moaning softly. His eyelid fluttered. "Kouji, get him a cool cloth for his forehead."

Kouji nodded, running to fetch a cool cloth. He returned and laid it across the sick boy's forehead.

"What else can we do for him?" Kouichi asked once Takuya stopped fidgeting. The sick boy still looked ill and his arm still swollen and purple.

"There's not much we can do about it at the moment. I need to figure out what is in this toxin before I can start treating it." Tomoko answered and examined the toxin. "In the meantime we have to make sure he stays covered and nourished. It'll help him."

The trio of friends nodded in understanding.

She took the syringe and left the room, she called to them from the doorway. "I'm going to run back to work- test this at the lab."

Kouichi left to bid his mother goodbye while Kouji and JP watched over the sick Digimon. The door closed and Kouichi returned. "Mom said to keep a close eye on him. "

Kouji nodded, "We can do that."

"I can't believe this happened- Gods, I feel horrible for the catnip earlier..." JP said softly, his guilt mounting in his chest.

The younger twin sighed, "This isn't your fault- either of you. Those Digimon were looking to hurt Takuya regardless of prior events."

"What the heck are Digimon doing here in the first place?" Kouichi asked. "I thought Digimon weren't able to come into the Human world… Bokomon talked about that all the time."

"That's true but…" JP looked to Takuya. "…nothing really makes sense at the moment…"

Kouji nodded in agreement and looked lost in thought. An idea popped up in his mind. "You think this has something to do with what happened in the Digital World? The war that was mentioned?"

"You think that's what's behind all of this?" JP asked.

"Possibly."

"That could have been Warriors, not war." Kouichi suggested to his brother.

JP nodded, "also true. What were those Digimon- I didn't recognize them."

"Who knows." Kouji muttered bitterly, shoving his hand into his pockets. Kouichi's phone buzzed across the desk. Zoe was calling them, likely to check in.

Kouichi gulped knowing well enough that Zoe would still be pissed at him for the catnip incident so he tossed the cell phone to his brother. "You answer. She's less likely to kill you."

The younger twin grumbled something along the line of 'chicken' and proceeded to answer the phone. "Zoe, its Kouji…"

"What the hell happened? Why are you answering Kouichi's phone?"

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Because he's too much of a chicken to answer himself. Look, we have a problem…"

"What's wrong? Did you find Takuya? Is he still missing?"

"If you waited for me to finish…" Kouji answered impatiently. "We found Takuya but something happened." He waited, feeling like he might be interrupted again. When Zoe didn't reply he decided to continue. "You're not going to believe this but there was a Digimon attack."

"What?! Who was it? Is Takuya okay- Oh gods, he's hurt isn't he!"

Kouji pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed tightly. "Zoe. Breath. In order, yes, we don't know- we didn't recognize it, Takuya is sick-"

She cut him off. "Oh gods! Where is he? Will he be okay-"

"ZOE!" She shut up at Kouji's outburst. Takuya twitched in his sleep. Kouji growled to himself softly, "Zoe please, we're helping him. He's at Kouichi's- Before you overreact again- we got Mom involved, he's really sick. We have it under control, He needsto rest though."

"O-okay," she stuttered softly.

Kouji sighed, "He'll be fine Zoe. Try not to worry okay? We'll keep you posted."

"You'd better Kouji Minamoto or that Catnip incident will seem like a harmless prank when I'm done with you." she warned.

Had it been any other person they'd be terrified by Zoe's threats but luckily for Kouji he wasn't any other person. "Look Zoe, I promise we'll keep you posted. You can even come to check on him if you want. Just try to calm down alright?"

"Alright." Zoe sighed. "I'll try to make it tomorrow. Does anyone else know?"

"Just us four and Mom." Kouji answered. "We should probably tell Tommy. Aside from that we have to make sure no one outside the group knows about this."

"Okay. I'll go ahead and call Tommy and tell him what's happening." Zoe replied.

The younger twin nodded. "We'll see you later Zoe. And seriously, try to relax. We have everything under control." He hung up the phone and tossed it back to Kouichi. "I think our next issue is what the hell we plan to tell Takuya's parents."

"They're bound to call our households to try and find out where he is…" Kouichi brought up and pocketed the cell. "They're going to be so angry…"

JP, who had been monitoring Takuya while Kouji dealt with Zoe turned, "Guys- he's not doing well..."

Takuya's breathing had become labored and the shivering started up again. His fever spiked as well. "His body must burn though the Aspirin faster than a human's..." Kouichi observed.

"Is it safe to give him another?" JP asked.

Kouichi shook his head, "Not until we know more..."

Takuya meanwhile squirmed, a softly whine escaping him. His body was in pain as the poison in his system began to over run it again. He writhed in pain, curling into a ball on his side. Sweat drenched his shivering body.

"What're we going to do…? Mom's not home yet…" Kouichi bit his lip as Takuya's condition worsened. "Guys… we… we need to get a cool towel on his head… something to cool him down…"

Takuya moaned, his body locking up and tense with pain. The purple tone in his skin spread farther up in his arm. He thrashed about as his fever grew; his skin hot to the touch. JP had gotten a cool wet towel and placed it on Takuya's forehead and jumped back as the water started to sizzle and evaporate on contact. "Oh man…"

"This is really bad…" Kouji muttered.

Takuya cried out in pain, his skin tone slowly turning chalky white. He whimpered softly, his body still shaking with sickness.

JP wrapped Takuya up in a blanket, "Kouichi, where's the bathroom- an ice bath is the best we've got right now."

Kouichi lead JP into the bathroom. The elder boy laid Takuya into the tub gently before turning on the coldest water setting they had. The cool water made Takuya flinch and cry in pain more but it seemed to be doing something as the color began to return to the boy' skin.

The group wasn't sure how to take the development; on one hand it looked like Takuya was getting better but on the other the cool water was bringing a lot of pain to the poor boy. It didn't help with the plumes of steam lifting up into the air.

"Damn it…" Kouji muttered, opening the windows and door to keep the room from becoming thick with a mist. "How's he looking?"

"Um… better but he looks like he's still in a bit of pain." JP answered after surveying Takuya's situation. "It's at least better than that crazy high fever…"

"I sure hope Mom comes back soon." Kouichi said softly and sat down on the floor, feeling a little relieved from the positive change in Takuya's condition.

The night wore on slowly. Mrs. Kimura returned with inconclusive findings. She pressed the boys for more details but they didn't give her anything else to go on. JP went home before it got dark and Kouji phoned his step-mother to let her know where he was. The twins set about trying to imitate Takuya's voice so they could call his parents. Neither of them could pull off a believable one and gave up, hoping Takuya's mother wouldn't worry too much about her son.

Takuya slept, now stabilized. His breathing was normal and his fever had gone down. It was still there but just barely. The purplish welt on his shoulder darkened and oozed nasty looking pus for a while- prompting the boys to wrap it in gauze and contain it.

"Poor Takuya..." Kouichi said softly, both he and Kouji sat in the living room, trying to get some rest.

"I wish we had some clue about what we can do… I don't know what that pus meant but… it can't be good." Kouji muttered and leaned back in his seat.

"At least we got it to stop." Kouichi offered though he didn't sound much relieved.

The twins sighed collectively, exhaustion from the day's events finally catching up to them. They had been on edge ever since morning after the catnip incident. As the hours dragged on the boys had felt their strength and were on the verge of collapsing in their seats.

Tomoko came into the living room and saw the drained looks on their faces. "Come on boys, you need to rest up. Get some sleep."

"But mom..." They started before she cut them off.

"No buts. I'll look after him." Tomoko said firmly. "You two need to rest- you're still just kids."

The twins looked to argue but were too tired to even try. Kouichi pulled the couch out into a bed for him and Kouji to share. Neither one complained as they settled into for the night. Tomoko came in and checked on her boys after they'd fallen asleep before checking in on Takuya.

Takuya troubled her. His appearance was... bizarre. She couldn't explain it. He was fascinating very frightening. And he could become this creature at will. She could hardly believe it.

She had always thought Takuya was a typical, hyperactive, boy. What's more, she never expected something like this; something so supernatural and fantastic. Tomoko could guarantee that if she told anyone they would think she was crazy.

The mother sighed to herself and looked Takuya's arm over. It still had an infectious purple color in his skin tone and the bandages were unpleasant to say the least, having been used to keep any more pus from oozing out.

Takuya moaned in his sleep. The purple hue had stopped just beyond his shoulder and enveloped his entire arm. The pus had stopped oozing though but it didn't change anything. He still had a pained look on his face, sweat dripping on his face, and his bad arm fidgeting.

She replaced the cloth on his forehead. Sighing again, she pulled the covers over him, hoping to keep him warm. She retired to her room to read for a bit before she resumed checking on her boys. The night went fairly easy, Takuya slept through the night as did the twins.

Kouichi rose before anyone else, after checking up on Takuya he went to make breakfast for his mother, brother and friend should he wake.

Kouji woke soon after the smell of food wafted through the house, "Morning Kouichi."

"Sleep well?" he asked.

The younger twin swatted at him, "Barely. I was worried sick about Takuya."

"I know what you mean." Kouichi answered and set a plate for Kouji. 'I checked up on him when I woke up. Nothing looked wrong; I think he slept okay-ish through the night."

Kouji accepted the information and nodded, sitting himself at the dining table and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Well, at least he's gotten some sleep."

"Yeah, but that purple color… it completely covered his arm and just barely seeping over his chest." Kouichi added, feeling a sense of dread as he recalled the look it had when he went to check on Takuya.

"You're kidding…" Kouji muttered in disbelief.

"Should we wake him?" Kouichi asked, "It's been a while since he's last eaten."

Kouji glanced at his brother's bedroom door. "I suppose so. It'll probably help him fight whatever that stuff is in his system."

Kouichi nodded, "I'll wake him- you eat." He went to the bedroom, poking his head in first. Takuya was still sound asleep. It seemed almost cruel to wake him. He gently tried to rouse the boy. "Takuya- Hey, wake up."

Takuya moaned slowly waking up. He still couldn't find the strength to move or even speak. He felt sore; his entire left arm felt like it was on fire but not in a way he was used to.

"Hey…Hey Takuya…" Kouichi frowned after seeing the condition his friend was in. "Damn it… Takuya, it's me Kouichi."

Takuya could only moan in reply and he tried to open his eyes to take in his surroundings. His vision was still blurry and all he could do was make up dark shapes. Kouichi's voice was muffled to his ears.

"Takuya?" Kouichi tried talking to his friend but he felt like nothing was getting to the gogglehead. The poor sick boy's condition seemed to be worsening now that he was awake to show them how weak he was.

Tomoko stepped into the room to check on Takuya when she saw her eldest. "Kouichi? Checking on Takuya? How's his condition?"

"…I'm not sure Mom. He looks like he could barely open his eyes." Kouichi answered uneasily. "I don't like this."

Takuya tried desperately to focus on his surroundings. He tried to move his body, finding it unresponsive. His left arm felt numb and heavy like lead. He felt dizzy, like something was covering his ears with a lot of pressure. Blood pounded in his ears, this was terribly wrong. Everything felt wrong. He was literally paralyzed, trapped within his own body.

Tomoko and Kouichi stood at the boy's side, trying desperately to wake him or get some sort of reaction. Kouji joined them after a short time, finding the situation distressing.

"We have to wake him up- somehow- H-he... He could be dying!" Kouji was frantic enough for Kouichi to shoo him from the room.

"Kouji, we're doing our best but you need to calm down and not freak out." His brother told him softly as to not anger is brother.

The younger twin growled but nodded. He knew he couldn't afford to be hysterical. Kouji just stood back as Kouichi went back to help his mother.

Tomoko and Kouichi went to Takuya's side and tried everything they could think of to get a response from the boy though the only response they had was from dabbing a cool wet towel on his forehead which resulted with a pained moan. Nothing was working.

"This is bad… I don't know what to do Mom…" Kouichi stated distressed.

The trapped sensation intensified. He lay, trapped in a void of ever darkening blackness, unable to move, unable to cry out. He felt weak and scared. His body numbed as the temperature dropped significantly.

Freak... monster... You don't belong in this world or the digital one. You're nothing but an abomination...

He could hear something drawing closer. Footsteps. The dull thunks grew louder with each passing step. Takuya swallowed slowly, fear racing through his veins. Whatever approached stopped. He could hear the sound of a familiar blade being drawn.

Takuya's eyes shot open as he cried out suddenly, thrashing wildly. Kouichi and his mother immediately backed away. He crashed to the floor, eyes wide with fear. Kouji reentered the room hearing the commotion.

The boy turned Digimon looked spooked, like he had been the first time he turned into Flamon. He tried to run, but his body as too weak. He collapsed on the floor in pain as the poison in his arm surged to life throughout his body. His D-tector fell from his pocket, hitting the floor. The screen lit up briefly. The world fell dark again as he passed out.

Kouji looked to his mother and brother. They were just as stunned as he was, though more shaken. He knelt beside Takuya and lifted him back into bed. "What's happening to you...?"

Takuya was once more in the dark void, though this time it felt different. It felt... better. Safe even. He could move. He didn't feel sick anymore. A new presence approached. He could see it through the darkness, but he could feel it. It felt good, and warming- like sitting beside a fireplace. He felt a hand touch the spot on his shoulder where the poison entered his body. It grew hot for a moment then faded. The wound and poison was gone.

In almost an instant he felt relieved; like an immense weight was lifted off his shoulders. He could feel his arm. The pain that surged through it had completely faded away almost as if the heat had melted away.

"You're going to be okay Takuya. You're not alone." A comforting voice told the boy. The voice was familiar but after everything Takuya went through, he had found it hard to focus. "You'll always have someone there watching your back."

Takuya couldn't make out the voice as he felt light envelope all of the darkness.


End file.
